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*