.:DiSsEcT a SoNg:.

So I decided that since we're doing it in school, I'd dissect a song. It's Fireflies by Owl City and even if you don't agree, you have to admit this is cool. It's basically a song about disaster and man attacking man, such as what happened in 9/11.

You would not believe your eyes

If ten million fireflies

Lit up the world as I fell asleep

Cause they'd fill the open air

And leave tear drops everywhere

You'd think me rude but I would just stand and

Stare

"Ten million fireflies" is 10 million people, about the number of people in a good sized nation. "If they lit up the world" is like bombing. He's asleep, so he's not going to know. "They'd fill the open air" means that they'd come over to bomb in planes or perhaps the shards of the bomb itself. "And leave tear drops everywhere" meaning they would leave broken pieces, broken lives, everywhere the bomb touched. "You'd think me rude but I would just stand and /stare". He's saying he would watch the destruction, in awe.

I'd like to make myself believe

That planet Earth turns, slowly

It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep

Cause everything is never as it seems

"I'd like to make myself believe/that planet Earth turns, slowly". He's saying he'd like to believe that life goes by slowly, but in reality, he knows it goes faster then he'd like. "It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep". He'd like to be awake, but he needs sleep to stay alive. Still, he'd like to stay awake because then the nightmares can't get him, as is evident in "Cause everything is never as it seems".

Cause I'd get a thousand hugs

From ten thousand lightening bugs

As they'd try to teach me how to dance

A foxtrot above my head

A sock-hop beneath my bed

The disco ball is just hanging by a thread

(thread, thread...)

"Cause I'd get a thousand hugs". This is reference to his nightmares and human nature to hug when someone is feeling scared, sad or in trouble. "From ten thousand lightening bugs" also talks about the people. In the case of the bombing theory, it would suggest people coming together, all at once. This runs in with the thousand hugs, seeing as a people come together after a tragedy. "As they'd try to teach me how to dance" suggests everyone's trying to relearn how to live, how to get on with they're lives. "A foxtrot above my head" is symbolizing how his thoughts are racing and are all jumbled because of what happened. "A sock-hop beneath my bed" suggests that he's trying to stay awake so the nightmares don't come back. "The disco ball is just hanging by a thread". The disco ball symbolizes his mind and how from all that's happened, his sanity is very close to becoming insanity.

I'd like to make myself believe

That planet Earth turns, slowly

It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep

Cause everything is never as it seems

(When I fall asleep)

Leave my door open just a crack

(Please take me away from here)

Cause I feel like such an insomniac

(Please take me away from here)

Why do I tire of counting sheep?

(Please take me away from here)

When I'm far too tired to fall asleep

(Ha-Ha)

"Leave my door open just a crack". This one is pretty explanatory. He's scared that the 'monsters' who created the disaster in the first place will come back, so he leaves the door open to keep them away. The repetition of "Please take me away from here" shows just how truly afraid he is that the 'monsters' will come back. "Cause I feel like such an insomniac/ Why do I tire of counting sheep?/ When I'm far too tired to fall asleep" This is basically saying that he can't sleep and nothing will work. He's stayed up too long being afraid of these monsters that he can no longer figure out how to fall asleep. Falling asleep is a metaphor for re-learning how to live.

To ten million fireflies

I'm weird cause I hate goodbyes

I got misty eyes as they said farewell

(Said farewell)

But I'll know where several are

If my dreams get real bizarre

Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar

(Jar, jar, jar)

This whole stanza is about how slowly, after time, the people that have come together after the tragedy are growing back apart. He keeps a few as his friends, but to the others, he is weird because he'd been so attached to those that are leaving.

I'd like to make myself believe

That planet Earth turns, slowly

It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep

Cause everything is never as it seems

(When I fall asleep)

I'd like to make myself believe

That planet Earth turns, slowly

It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep

Cause my dreams are bursting at the seams

This whole song is basically about tragedy and how even after it has happened, people have nightmares and grow close to others. Slowly, as the tragedy is fading from mind's eye, the people move farther away, but friendships were made.

If you don't agree with my thoughts, please tell me! I'd love to hear how you think of this song.