#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!