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.
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!
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