The Many Side Projects of Adam Young

For some reason this blog is becoming much less texty and much more picture-y.
Here, lemme combine the two.

I've known for a while that Adam has a whole ton of side projects and/or old band stuff lying around, but I never realized how many things he actually took part in until I did some research.
After coming up with too many results with weird names ("Can You Smell What the Rock Is Cooking"? ...what?), I decided to smush them all together in one big...

(click for full size here)
For some reason the picture won't link properly, so only the link works. ._.

Took 8 to 9 hours too long to complete but I personally like the result.

I ran out of projects halfway through. There are many... but sadly not quite enough, so I brought in all the albums I could find, and then a couple songs I found awesome. If you haven't heard some of his old stuff, I encourage you to check'em out!

The Results of Boredom

...not really 'boredom', perse, more... uh... 'not wanting to do real work'.


This one's the latest piece of procrastination I've done - at first I was going to do All Things Bright and Beautiful's album cover, but it looked complicated so I chickened out. The small words in the back are all lyrics to Owl City songs... can you name them all?

 

This one was actually done about a year ago for a friend's birthday present - I've mushed several of her usernames together and the background words are snippets from her stories.

FEEL YOUR RETINAS BURN. A random vector I did for fun and because that pink was so pretty I wanted to use it somewhere.

 

All of these are vectors, made in, uh, Powerpoint.

Yeah, I do have Photoshop - I just prefer using Powerpoint's 'pen' tool over Photoshop's. Granted, you could probably do a lot more with PS; however, at this point in time... I don't feel the need. Once I get a tablet I'll be scrawling all over Photoshop's pretty canvas with that brush, but the pen tool just doesn't seem to like me (and vice versa). Plus, in Powerpoint you can make the shape(s) as big as you want to or zoom in as far as you want without making it pixilated or anything. The downside is that I sometimes put so many shapes in that Powerpoint starts lagging...

Someday I'll start using the pen tool like a real artist does.

Maybe.

I Can Be a Photographer Too

(although not a very good one.)

Hobby photography. Not a pro by any standards, but I do have a few pictures I end up liking.

This is a Thank You letter

.

Dear Adam,

June is usually, for me, full of nasty and rather undelightful things, such as finals, nights too hot for sleeping, and the emergence of the mosquitoes. It's at this point in time that the year's stresses and disappointments all seem to come and slap me in the face. Every little thing seems to affect me too much, whether it's being bested in something I tried hard at, dropping a raw egg accidentally, or just tripping over my cat - I become irritable, snappy, and it's hard not become the pessimist I am and rather despise. However, this year round June also dropped something rather shiny and glorious into my lap.

Or, should I say, bright and beautiful.

Through the haze of tests and studying and stress emerged All Things Bright and Beautiful, a pretty little CD filled with the most amazing music I've heard from you yet.

You've truly outdone yourself this time, Adam. To say the songs are breath-taking would be an understatement - they do so much more. They make me smile, want to dance and laugh and sing and fly, dream - and simply sit there, each song breaking my heart a little bit more with its beauty.

The Real World swept me up completely with its vivid descriptions and amazing imagery. Don't need no iTunes visualizer, and please never make a video for it - nothing in this world could ever capture the absolutely beautiful scenes your song created for me. After seeing your "Track by Track" for it, I had high expectations for a song I could relate so closely to - and they were met with flying colours. It felt like I was completely lifted free of this world and set somewhere beautiful and carefree, where anything was possible; it was my own little haven, my escape from reality, and for that I have to thank you. When I opened my eyes (I don't quite remember when I closed them, but closed them I did), I was honestly quite startled to find the normality and drabness of my bedroom around me after being drenched in such a vivid world of colour and music.

I hadn't even realized I was becoming depressed (again) until I felt that happiness your songs brought with them, and those reminders of God's love and strength made that desperation and hopelessness cease.

Thank you for reminding me why I began loving your music in the first place - for being filled to the brim with that dreaminess only you have ever managed to bottle up in a song - for reminding me why I strive to be an optimist in this pessimistic and cynical world- for giving me that feeling that I can fly and soar somewhere above reality and its troubles.

For such an absolutely amazing album, thank you.

.

The Real World

When I saw Adam's video for the Real World, my jaw literally dropped.

 (If you haven't seen it yet, here it is.)

Because for years I've been wishing for the exact same thing, in nearly those exact words - somewhere you could escape to and be yourself and just relax for a bit, push away reality for a while yet be able come back whenever you wanted.

I've always felt the need for some place like that; a dream world of some sort, or even a separate reality like they have in those science fiction novels - but a reality where I'm in control and everything works out a bit more smoothly, a bit more quickly and a little more happily.

While reality can be nice to come back to once in a while, there's no doubt that it's tough to go through sometimes. A lot of the time life feels like it's contorting and pushing and twisting in every direction, like its very purpose is to squeeze the life out of me, and having keep my balance on top of that shifting mass of reality sometimes just seems too much. Please excuse the analogy, but you know those pirate ship rides at amusement parks?

(Google Images FTW. Photo cred to... someone.)

Yeah, those!

I love them, but if you ride them fifty five times in a row you can throw up, even if you have a stomach made of steel. Bleeeuaaahghg. Have you ever tried standing up the entire time the ride is going? Riding at the veeery front/back of the ship? I don't know about you, but I get pretty tired after a while just because of the way I grip the bar like a lifeline (which it is), and the way your core muscles and stuff have to keep adjusting so you keep your balance and don't topple over headfirst onto the people in the row in front of you, and possibly out of the ship as well. And at that point, what I'd do is I'd get out of the ship, go grab a cotton candy, sit down on the grass and laugh while other people scream and throw up on the pirate ship.

Sadly, you can't do that with this reality.

(or can you? [insert "DUN DUN DUN" here])

A little while back I was obsessed with sleep - obsessed to the point where some people might have deemed it unhealthy. I loved sleep. I rushed through things (or simply gave them up) so I could get to my comfy little bed earlier. When I was awake, I was constantly thinking about sleep, daydreaming about speedwalking home to take another five hour nap. Never mind the fact I was sleeping as much as a cat does; I just needed more sleep.

Why?

(Adam, if you're reading this, please don't get creeped out.)

I'd found my 'escape'. Somehow I had gained a little control over how my dreams developed, who was in them and so on and so forth. I had obsessed over Adam enough in the real world that I had managed to drag him into my dreams (as well as a number of other things). Nightmares were non-existent. Every dream was happy, carefree, weightless, stressless and completely and utterly... dreamy. Who needed dreams to become reality? Screw reality, I have sleep to carry me to my dreams. Besides, it's the only way I'd ever be able to fly, and I did quite a lot of that during those dreams. Even if I didn't have those ridiculously awesome and vivid dreams, I would wake up feeling rested for at least five seconds.

...and then get slapped in the face with the load of homework, work, stuff to do, and life in general.

To quote Ernest Hemingway,

"I love sleep. My life has a tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?"

It worked well for a while.

Then I began having troubles falling asleep. (finally bitten by the insomnia bug that seems to plague all Owl City residents, it seems.)

I'm back to trying to find that escape from reality.

My imaginary 'dream world' currently hides past a magical portal behind a poster on my wall. Tee hee.

Oh Deer!

So if you haven't heard yet, the release date for All Things Bright and Beautiful has been moved down to June 14th.
(It'll make exam time a lot less depressing, that's for sure.)

http://owlcitymusic.com/atbab


And make sure to vote for your favourite song - he's released nice juicy previews of Dreams Don't Turn to Dust, Alligator Sky (which is already out, buy it on iTunes!), Galaxies, and Deer in the Headlights.

I suppose what I've got here is my first impression of these songs.



Dreams Don't Turn to Dust

The first time I heard it, it was that little segment in the "Making of All Things Bright and Beautiful" video. What I really love about this song is how dynamic his voice is, and that little bloopy sound during the chorus.

"Splash down in the silver screen
Into a deep dramatic scene.
I swim through the theatre -
Or maybe, I'm just a dreamer."

However, I sorta miss that electronic feel to the music - most of it seems to be that clubby beat, violin, and guitar now.


Alligator Sky

It starts off with a revving-up sound, and perhaps it's necessary to boot up all that awesomeness. I'm pretty sure everyone's heard this song by now.

"Where was I when the rockets came to life
And carried you away, into the alligator sky?
Even though I'll never know what's up ahead,
I'm never letting go."
The first time I heard it, one of the things that became obvious to me was that he sounded... different. It took me a while to place it, but I finally have it: confidence.
Every time it plays I stop, drop whatever I'm holding (unless it's a hot bowl of soup) and stare out the window, smiling. It's got that dreamy, surreal and floaty quality to it, and the rap "grounds" it for me, I suppose, as well as adding a bit more of a beat to it.


Galaxies

The preview starts with a bunch of violins making things all intense.
...and then the beat kicks in and all of a sudden your foot can't keep still...

"Dear God,
You're the only North star
I would follow this far..."

I was going to vote for this one, because of that awesome clubby beat - and those "da da da"s! I also love the effects he placed on his voice when he says "galaxies".


Deer in the Headlights

It starts out awesome and only proceeds to get better.

"Met a girl in the parking lot,
And all I did was say hello!
Her pepperspray made it rather hard
For me to walk her home..."

Basically, it's about Adam Young getting beaten up by a girl. This song is everything I loved about his earlier albums, and so much more. The chorus is the kind that sweeps you off your feet, and, in my case, drops jaws and glazes eyes.

My vote went to the deer.




I can't wait for the next single!

Owl City replied... to ME?

...wait, what?


So if you're reading this you probably know by now that Adam did, indeed, tweet me saying that he read my blog and that I was a talented author.

At the time he tweeted me, I was on DeviantArt browsing through the comics section, trying to find something to take the edge off my boredom. My phone was turned on silent as I get tired of the chirping it does when people tweet/text me.

I was going to sleep.

I really was.

And then, as always, I gave in and checked Twitter that ONE last time... and the first tweet I saw was Kasey and Haley freaking out about whether I was online or not, with a bunch of ASKDGKFS thrown in.

Obviously I had absolutely no idea what was going on, so I scrolled down a bit more and saw an Owl City tweet.

On closer inspection, it contained my twitter name in it.

On even closer inspection, it wasn't just another one of those Owl City Indonesia or Malaysia or anywhere else.



It was actually Adam Young.



I'll admit that I didn't believe it at first. It's the late night playing tricks on my eyes. DEAR VIENNA I'VE FINALLY GONE BLIND! Huh, wonder if someone hacked into his account? Are you sure there's nothing on the end of that OwlCity username?

It took a while to sink in - everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. (I kid you not. This is the extent of my ridiculous fangirlism. Sigh.)


After a minute or two of carefully counting out the letters in his username, refreshing several times and generally sitting there like an idiot, the sparkly train of light hit me.



I honestly wish that I could say I did something absolutely awesome and crazy and fangirly right then, but in reality I just sat there like an idiot for a couple more minutes while the effects slowly began setting in.
I'm not a doctor, but I'd say that I was pretty deep in shock for a while:

• light headedness
• clammy skin
• rapid pulse
• rapid breathing
• confusion
• weakness

After that, the first thing I sent him was "Wait - what? Wait wait wait" or some other incoherent garbage.
Then I managed to gather my wits and send him a nearly proper reply, thanking him in CAPSLOCKS and ending with "YOU'RE AWESOME?"

...to which he replied again "Of course!"





A year ago or so I was pretty into the writing scene - although, I must say, I was really not that good at it. After realizing I couldn't write proper multi-chapter stories, I stopped. Zero motivation, except for the odd plot bunny that jumped in front of me.


Now I want to write.

I suppose I'll start by keeping this blog a little more updated!



Haha. I'm still sitting here smiling. It's 1:30AM and I'm feeling really rather happy...

Lonely Lullaby

So I thought for a while if I honestly wanted to post this blog post at all, because some people are definitely going to frown at me and go "HOW COULD YOU" or stuff like that.

But it's the internetz and I'm just gonna get my opinion out there to the zero people who actually read it.

Truth is, I... er... don't like Lonely Lullaby all that much.

So if you're one of those people who adore the song please don't read anymore thank you.

Now, it might just be that I don't like songs that are too simple, and it is quite a simple song. Or it might be because I usually dislike piano songs since I've had enough piano to last me a lifetime. Maybe it's because I dislike the way he's singing too high, or even just because I heard Alligator Sky first, was blown away, and was disappointed by Lonely Lullaby's... lack of blow-away-ness.

Sure. Might be any of those.

But the real reason might be that it reminds me too much of Taylor and her tendency to drag people into her songs.

It was awesome/heartattack-inducing when he sang about Swift during Valentines, it was cute when he wrote a blog about it, and it was cool when I heard the song for the first time. But a few times after... eh.

Musicians take inspiration from past relationships and they can mix up a beautiful and depressing song about them, like Lonely Lullaby. I understand that. But is there a need to call people out by name, to take your revenge on people for dumping you by singing about it and releasing the songs to your fans worldwide like Swift does? No.

While Adam definitely hasn't gone that far yet, I can't help but see the way he's managed to pull Annmarie into this. She's not a big-name celebrity, unlike the people Swift makes songs about. Swift's ex's are already pretty famous, and really don't mind getting some extra attention.

Annmarie? She's a normal girl from Adam's high school that he fell in love with. I wouldn't want to be her right now, with this song about her. She's going to feel pressured and targeted, since fans are going to be going all "ANNMARIE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MISSING OUT ON~" or "HOW COULD ANNMARIE DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO HIM?!"

If he didn't mention her name, people might be a lot less pushy about the subject and more focused on speculating who it's about (or if it was just a random depressing song Adam felt like singing).

Even though none of the fans really know her or anything... I feel sorry for her right now.

Another point is that - well. One of his latest blogs was "I Hate Goodbyes," and it was about a girl who he had to say goodbye to a couple weeks ago. Perhaps they met again and tried for something romantic again, I don't know - but a few weeks is enough time to pull together a song like "Lonely Lullaby" and put it on the album before it got finalized.

I don't know about you, but to me "I'll never forget you", repeated that many times, almost sounds like a threat - especially coming from someone who's got over four hundred thousand fans.

In all honesty... I find this song sorta scary. If "I Hate Goodbyes" wasn't about her, then it proves that he never will forget her (even after all these years), and it'd be sorta creepy. If it was about her, I'd still feel sorta creeped out that he records something like that and freaking puts it on the album.

I don't know Annmarie. I don't know how she feels about this. (It's quite likely that he asked for her permission to sing about her since he's a nice guy like that.)

But it's just why I dislike the song.

Apologies.

Going Owl Nocturnal

At 11:30PM on March 16th, the first episode of "Going Owl Nocturnal" aired from PepprmintWinter's Twitter.

...yes, I was bored, and amazingly hyped up since I'd slept so early. Not being able to go back to sleep, I grabbed my trusty laptop and started writing the first thing that came to my mind. The voice in my head took on the voice of the announcer from the Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show, declaring things with a flourish.

For the next half hour until midnight, quote tweets were tweeted every 1-5 minutes until midnight.

All my good quotes are now exhausted.




After the show, my battery died.
And the voice in my head is still obnoxiously enthusiastic.



...but I think I'll do this again. Every other day until the release of All Things Bright and Beautiful? Why not?
I'll just need to find something to host a show about... which may be difficult.






Next show airs March 18th, 11:30PM PST. Tune in for another half hour of witless ramblings if you're not afraid for your sanity....

Edit: GON airs every Friday night unless something comes up.

Let the Pirate-ness Commence

In Adam Young's most recent blog post, he gives several tips as to how to become a pirate. (With the whole "Owl City is sneaky" thing, I would have thought he'd be a ninja. Apparently not.)
Most of these involve personal hygiene, like not brushing your teeth, having chest hair, not wearing lipstick, and never wearing clean undies.

However, there were a few things that really did catch my eye, such as this one:


"No pirate shall “discuss his feelings,” unless his feelings include gutting a man from stem to stern and spilling his entrails."


For a guy who has posted numerous times about love, sang a love song to a certain blonde celebrity, and is undeniably Christian... all of a sudden the image of Adam wearing a triple pointed hat with a black eye patch, a hook, his beard and a wicked scimitar dripping in blood appeared in my mind and I cracked up.
Because the only expressions on his face that I could imagine were shock, confusion, or a complete idiotic "I've lost it and I'm on a rampage now" look.
I personally had never even thought about the idea that Adam might harbour a secret love for blood and gore and killing things, but apparently he is besotted with the idea of soft white intestines leaking out of a body-severing wound, coated with blood. After all, if he confirmed that his dream was to become a pirate, and spilling guts was obviously part of the job description, then it must have been one of the things he'd adore doing... correct?

The last image stayed in mind, that 'fierce' Adam!pirate going around a little pirate ship killing people, and then it was reinforced when I saw this line:


"...unless the pirate rips off the ninja’s arm and hurls it as a projectile."





Well, you know what they say about the nice ones...

#JustsoAdam Anonymous

Do you feel light headed just from thinking about Adam Young? You may be suffering from a potentially deadly disease named "#JustsoAdam Syndrome".

This disease is often carried by creatures called "Fan", or their more dangerous evolution, "Fangirl" #JustsoAdam Syndrome spreads through waves of sound in the air, and through gentle to violent pressuring from said fangirls. They arm themselves with Music Players and infect innocents through earbuds or speakers.
Once these people absorb the sound waves, the sugary drug seeps into the blood and causes instant addiction. After a while of voluntarily absorbing the drug, these people become Fans, who may eventually become Fangirls themselves. With the evolution into Fangirl, they begin suffering from #JustsoAdam Syndrome.
Some people, however, are immune to the drug and instead brush it off like a bug, often causing the "Fangirl" to explode.

So now that you know what causes this unpreventable and wonderful illness, how do you recognize it? (Not, of course, that you'd ever be able to treat it. You're in too deep by this point.)

1. The words "Adam" or "Young" instantly spark your attention, curiosity, and may cause your head to turn immediately towards the speaker no matter who they are.

2. You gush about Owl City/Adam Young to anyone who will listen, friend or not.

3. When asked what you are listening to on your iPod/mp3 player, it is almost always Owl City/Sky Sailing/Insect Airport/Port Blue/etc.

4. You have had a "crush" on Adam for more than 4 months - you're in love.

5. Thinking about Adam Young is enough to put a glaze or sparkle into your eyes, and get your heart pounding.

6. Thinking about MEETING Adam Young will make you light headed, breathless, and irrationally nervous.

7. You have the feeling that meeting Adam would cause you to faint.

8. You have the feeling that getting a simple Tweet from Adam would cause you to go into hysterics.

9. You have a Twitter/blog just to talk about Adam Young, and with his army of Owlette fans.

10. Owl City is your "happy place".

11. And lastly, you read through this entire thing, slowly checking off each point in the list and realizing with a sinking heart that yes, you do indeed have #JustsoAdam Syndrome.


Don't worry.


It's a good thing.




...hopefully.

It doesn't make sense!

People have often complained that Owl City's lyrics just don't make sense, that they're stupid and meaningless, etc., etc.


I'd like to argue against that.

First of all, look who's talking? What are your favourite artists' lyrics saying? The most obvious example that comes to mind is the ever famous Beaver, chanting "Baby", alternating with a few gasps of "Oh!" every few lines.
However, there are a lot of 'good' songs that people think have perfectly understandable lyrics, when they might not make any sense at all when looked at properly. (These songs I actually love, so I have no trouble picking them apart.)


Viva La Vida: Coldplay

"Once you go there was never
Never an honest word."

...the grammar burns. That is all. Continuing...

"But that was when I ruled the world."

On its own, it makes sense. But combined with the rest of the chorus, it doesn't. Is he trying to say that he's truthful now and that "you not go" now that he doesn't rule the world? I can't make sense of it. At least with Adam's lyrics I can work them out.



Bad Day: Daniel Powter

"You tell me, don't lie..." 
Again, what is it with butchering grammar to fit the proper words in? Adam never seems to have this problem.

"Well you need a blue sky holiday,
The point is they laugh at what you say."

 Sorry, Daniel, but I don't see the point. At all. She needs a holiday and the point is that they laugh at her? She needs a holiday for them to laugh at her?
I'm not even sure if he means for the ideas to be connected, but he says "the point is" so I'll assume he does.



Teenage Dream: Katy Perry

"I might get your heart racing
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight"

Not only does it lack rhyme, but the the lyrics don't match up. She might get your heart racing, in her skin tight jeans, be your teenage dream tonight.
More grammar fail. Hurr.


(I'm not daft; I know what these artists are trying to get across with these lyrics. I just find that they're being very... lazy... with their word choices.)







The problem with many song lyrics, I find, is that overall they present an image or idea that many people accept as "sensible" - with enough repetition of lyrics, it seems to gain even more "sense". Ignore the obvious grammar mistakes we would never make even when texting, ignore the "I need a word so I'll just use this one" lyrics, as long as it repeats itself enough for you to remember... it makes sense.


Owl City lyrics are, firstly, very unrepetitive. Only a few have any sort of chorus with repeating words, and those are mostly in his latest album Ocean Eyes (ex. Fireflies, The Bird and the Worm, If My Heart Was a House, Tidal Wave, Hot Air Balloon)


Of course, Adam Young doesn't just write lyrics.


He writes poetry.


If you look at his songs, they do read much like poems; flowing from one sentence to the next, using poetic devices (oh, how my grade 9 teacher drilled those into our heads), and generally very beautiful descriptions and language.

He doesn't just go "I'm so heartbroken + a bunch of unrelated lyrics" He... well.

 Vanilla Twilight

"The silence isn't so bad,
'Til I look at my hands and feel sad
'Cause the space between my fingers
Are right where yours fit perfectly."

I'm not sure how those don't make sense.



But one of the most poetic songs, I find, is Designer Skyline. From the music to the lyrics, I just love the image it presents: an architect, a dream, and a beautiful city being designed and built.

"Re-working the math and measurements,
Until I'm convinced these plans are picturesque -
Like mountains in the Midwest."

Another point, if you'll notice, is that most lyrics manage to use very. simple. words. to. make. it. understandable and "sensical" for the listener. From just his blog alone, you can tell Adam likes being eloquent, thank you very much, and he doesn't hesitate to use 'smart' words in his lyrics.

(You'd be surprised to know how many people think "picturesque" is a smart word.)

I'm not saying you're stupid if you don't get Owl City's lyrics.

I'm just saying to try listening to them instead of looking for a chorus or some repeated words to make sense of it.



I rest my case. *judge gavel*

Enchanted

Yesterday, I was looking around when I saw that Taylor Swift had apparently written a song for Adam Young. I clicked on it and listened to it and didn't really think it was anything special - and then, on the "related videos" sidebar of Youtube, guess what I saw?

Adam Young's response to her song.

Well, suuuure, right? I personally don't support Taylor/Adam - I never really liked Taylor's songs, or her way of getting revenge on past boyfriends by singing about them.
Smirking, I clicked on it, fully expecting to hear a poorly done scam, or just some lowering of Taylor's voice to make it sound like a boy's.

Within five seconds the smirk was wiped off my face.
The date the video was posted?
February 12th.

I'd recognize that voice and style of music anywhere.
My jaw dropped.

All I was thinking was "No no no this can't be real, it's not real, there's been some mistake, this is all just a big joke some idiot's thought up - "

I read the note from the video description.

My heart sank, but I was still fighting. I was honestly still half believing that it would all turn out to be a big hoax, and began scouring Google and websites and Twitter.

I went to his website.
http://www.owlcitymusic.com/vday/


And all of a sudden, it felt like someone had stabbed me through the heart. I literally stopped and stared for a good five minutes, rereading that note. After it finally sank in that he actually did this ("What was he thinking? What was he THINKING?!"), my breath came back, quick and shallow.

I believe you call that "hyperventilation".

On the second listen through of the song, I was crying.

How could he do this to us?

I don't even know why I was crying. Of course I love Adam Young; what self respecting fangirl doesn't? But I don't believe I was crying over jealousy or anger at Taylor for being able to snatch him instead of any of us - after all, I live on the other side of the continent, never have talked to him, and am way too young for him.

I just didn't want them together. Honestly, I would have preferred Adam Young and Ke$ha to go out, as strange as it sounds.



It took me a while - two hours of thinking of nothing but Owl City and Taylor Swift, then another three hours of just listening to that one song.

The song was what really kicked it home, and kicked me into resignation.


The vocals. The music. The rhythms, the voice effects, the background vocals and the way it was so well put together - he spent time on it, and had the guts to add that extra verse on the end:

"I was never in love with someone else,
I never had somebody waiting on me,
'Cause you were all of my dreams come true...
And I just wish you knew
Taylor, I was so in love with you."

I couldn't believe it. How did someone just come out and say that? I was astounded. I know of no one else that would ever have the guts to sing something like that -- and he did it even though Swift never mentions that she loves him in her original song.
I could imagine him up later than usual at night, staring at the ceiling and arguing with himself whether he should add it or not. Whether she really meant what she said in her song, or if it was just a dramatic effect.

And for him to finally decide to come full out and admit that, at the very least, he had a crush on her, either takes a lot of stupidity, a lot of attention-neediness, or... a lot of courage and emotion.

He's posted about "Cinderella", that beautiful princess he's waiting for, on his blog before, and by the mention of 'princess' in his love note, it isn't too hard to put two and two together.


Today, Valentine's Day, is also a blog post day.
And reading his post about Taylor Swift, I couldn't help but smile sadly.


So I'll post here what I've posted everywhere else.


Taylor, treat him wrong or make him cry and you'll have us Owl Citizens to contend with.
Don't use him as just another excuse to write a breakup song, please, like all the other boyfriends you zip through and dump so quickly.

I wish Adam the best of luck, and hope he gets his own fairytale ending.





"Please don't be in love with someone else..."

Citizen Class

So after looking through tons of Owl City stuff via DeviantArt, Youtube, Google, forums, etcetera, I feel confident enough to say that not all of us Owl City fans are cut from the same cloth (I mean it in the best way possible).
Now, of course, we're all united underneath a single banner of Adam's awe inspiring awesomeness, and when called to do so any one of us will take up verbal arms and combat against blasphemisers and wrongdoers who dare enter our domain, but we do have little civil wars going on here.

First, we have our Fireflies fans - yes, the ones who have only ever heard Fireflies and loved it enough to not dig any deeper into the gold mine they've scratched the surface of. They're the ones commenting on Fireflies videos saying how much they love this song and Owl City. They're the vacationers, hopping into the City for a quick listen but never truly settling down. This group doesn't cause trouble and doesn't fight back, although they are rather subject to bullying since the more obsessed members like to show off their superiority. Personally, I have no problems with this class except a sense of regret that they didn't decide to keep listening and search for other songs.

Then, we have the Ocean Eyes Citizens, quite different from the Fireflies group except for the fact that, most likely, the first song they heard was Fireflies. Just because they're grouped into "Ocean Eyes" doesn't mean that they only like songs in that album, though - most Ocean Eyes fans love all the songs Owl City makes.

The more passive fans are content to comment with how much they love all Adam's music. The more obsessed fans will often be the ones fighting criticizers of Owl City, and will also be the ones dragging unwilling friends to concerts, or shoving Owl City music at people who haven't heard Adam's music yet. They're the ones who screech into the owlery with flashy feathers and settle and mingle and participate with a deadly passion. A lot of the time, they long to be one of the last group, even though they know they cannot.

This last group is none other than the Of June/Maybe I'm Dreaming Citizens. These guys have lived in this City for as long as anyone can remember, trying to get the rest of the world to come join them. Heck, they may even be the ones who first heard his songs on that little MySpace and spread it. They have my admiration and envy for having known Adam for so long, and probably got the chance to meet him at his earlier concerts. These people will post on Youtube saying "Thumbs up if you loved Adam before Fireflies!!!" or something to the effect, and you'll see them with a couple dozen thumbs up because, even though most people who did thumbs up were OEC, they usually want to make themselves believe they are of this class.

The only problem I have with this class is that, often, they have a superiority complex, saying that they're the "true fans" and stuff. Seriously. I love him as much as you, I promise, I just didn't get that chance to hear him before he was popular.

As for me, I'm throwing my lot in with the Ocean Eyes class, because I don't belong anywhere else, and the first song I did hear from Adam was, indeed, Fireflies.

Hoot hoot.

BreadFish

So today Adam sent us a link via Twitter.
http://breadfish.co.uk/


At first, when I clicked on it, I laughed and closed the window. However, an hour later I found myself back on that stupid little site, absolutely mesmerized by... swimming fish.
In bread.

Yes.

And with a looped song:
"Tell me, have you seen the marvelous breadfish?
Swimming in the ocean waters?
Have you seen the marvelous breadfish?
It's like an inverse sandwich.
Oh, for Fishermen and Sharks..."

Although it might not seem so, for some reason the song never got old. I was on that little webpage, listening to the song and watching the breadfish swim by for a good fifteen minutes before I dragged myself out of that little weird brainwashed state.

After dinner I went right back on and played the music in the background. My friend found that the song didn't get old either, even though it was only five lines over, and over, and over again.

A bit later, after we'd finally worked up the brain power to close the window, we realized that we'd both completely forgotten the tune.


What an interesting song.


(Okay, yeah, I know. Breadfish.)

Applying for Owl Citizenship

For the first post of this shiny little blog, I felt this topic suitable.



Many people no doubt came by Owl City via Fireflies, the overplayed hit of summer, 2009. However, I don't listen to regular radio stations. I grew up listening to the stations my mom liked since I had no power to change them, and really didn't fancy the rappy, clubby kind of music. Our radio station played slightly older, more 'grown-up' kind of songs, I suppose, the kind of music that was already past its prime but still retained a sort of shine about it. Not old, as in Elvis or the Beatles, but... not popular anymore. The stations that played new, modern songs also usually played rap - which I really rather hate.

I kept listening to the same radio station (and still do). As a result, though, I never heard the songs while they were popular - I got to hear Marianas Trench two years after their hit song came out, Cross My Heart, and only heard Fireflies played at least six months after it came out. Even then, it wasn't overplayed. I count myself very, very, very lucky in that regard.



So if I didn't get drawn in by Fireflies (luckily), how exactly DID I get sucked into the magic that is Owl City?





Well.



I didn't fall in love with Adam Young for his music.



I began liking him for his Twitter.

Yes, of all things, it was his amazingly funny Tweets that drew me in.




Last summer, I was obsessing over another musical group - Marianas Trench. If you're not from Canada, you may not have heard of them, but it suffices to say that I was quite in love. Their lead singer, Josh Ramsay, was an avid Twitteree, so I quickly made a Twitter account as well (being the avid stalker I am). I followed all their accounts, and my friend Vienna.


Lo and behold, whether it was because I followed Josh or Vienna, one of my suggested people to follow was this strange guy called "Owl City"! His latest tweet? "Good choice! I agree with you 100%!" to someone who was unfollowing him, calling his tweets irrelevant and annoying. It was that irrelevance that made me love his Tweets.

They were random. They were punny. They were absolutely hilarious. I clicked on the follow button.



And, during a period of procrastination, I also found out that Adam Young wrote blogs. The first new one that came out during my time of following was "My Hope Is Found," which included a beautiful cover of the hymn "In Christ Alone".

It was through that I found out that he was a Christian.

One of the main problems I had with Marianas Trench was that they swore. They smoked. And I do believe that they weren't the most virtuous group of guys. Now, perhaps some girls wouldn't mind and all, but honestly, I felt a little uncomfortable saying that I liked that band. With Adam, it was almost the complete opposite. Here was someone I could say I liked without feeling slightly abashed or make excuses for their behaviour.




A few days later, I stumbled across the remix of Hello Seattle. The grin couldn't be wiped off my face, and once I began exploring other Owl City songs, I was firmly and irrevocably stuck in this amazing place called Owl City. Perhaps it helped that I started off on the right foot, having not heard Fireflies played fifty times in a day, and it probably helped that I'm Christian, so I really do respect and admire Adam all the more for being able to express his religious views so openly. It probably helps that I have the mind of a ten year old and find his puns absolutely hysterical, heh.

And that is how I became an Owl Citizen. I'm in my first year of OCU, still finding out new things about Adam and Owl City every week, still digging to find all his songs, and still completely obsessed with his music and personality.

Woot!