History Music / OwlCity

Owl City is [[IAmTheBand Adam Young with a synthesizer]], originally created as a way for Young to deal with his insomnia. After gaining a small cult following in the 2000s with his internet-released albums ''Of June'' and ''Maybe I'm Dreaming,'' he snagged a smash hit in 2010 with "Fireflies," a sweet little song about insomnia and the [[GrowingUpSucks loss of childhood innocence]].

* MindScrew: Arguably, The Real World. Is Adam talking about some dream world he never wants to leave, or our world?

--->"Reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn't wanna live there."

->''[[MemeticMutation You would not believe your eyes]]''
->''If ten million [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife ruined lives]]''

----

* DarkerAndEdgier: "This Isn't The End" is far darker and more melancholy than the usual Owl City fare, dealing with a father who committed suicide, and the affect this had on his daughter. [[spoiler: Ultimately, however, the song does end on an optimistic note.]]

* ChristmasSong: He has several, one of which is actually called "Christmas Song." He's released one nearly ever December as a single since 2011, including "Peppermint Winter," "Kiss Me, Babe, It's Christmas Time" and "Ba, Humbug,"

Owl City is [[IAmTheBand Adam Young with a synthesizer]]. His most popular song to date is "Fireflies," a sweet little song that seems to be about a boy whose dreams are inhabited by countless of the aforenamed insects (in actuality, it's a song about Adam's insomnia, but very few people seem to either know or care). Some of his other songs include "Vanilla Twilight," a nostalgic look at unrequited love, and "Umbrella Beach" which is about... [[MindScrew something]]. He collaborated with Music/CarlyRaeJepsen, singer of "Call Me Maybe," with "Good Time" in 2012.

Owl City's music is generally characterized by [[EarWorm bubbly synth melodies]], cutesy lyrics and puns. ''[[HurricaneOfPuns Lots]]'' [[HurricaneOfPuns of puns]]! And depending on who you ask, it's either [[SweetDreamsFuel endearing]] or [[TastesLikeDiabetes sickening]]. Oddly enough, he's become a go-to musician for theme songs to big-budget animated features.

His music tends to cause ''lots'' of {{WAFF}}, and is rather [[LoveItOrHateIt polarizing]], considering people find his excessively sweet musical style to be either adorable or obnoxious. Not so much toward Hollywood executives, though, as he's become the go-to guy for end credit songs to animated features.

* CueTheSun: While not actually the sun, the [[BuffySpeak Aurora-cloud thing]] in the "Vanilla Twilight" video glows more colorfully and brightly when Adam starts the last verse, and the onlookers react quite happily. It is, of course, fitting the lyrics:
-->When violet eyes get brighter, and heavy wings grow lighter, I'll taste the sky and feel alive again.

%%* IAmTheBand

%%* SweetDreamsFuel: Practically his entire discography.
%%** At least until you listen carefully to [[LyricalDissonance some of the lyrics...]]

* WithFriendsLikeThese: "...well, who needs enemies?"[[note]]"The Bird and the Worm"[[/note]]

* FollowTheLeader: ''Lots'' of influence in Owl City's music can be seen when one listens to Music/ThePostalService, with the two musical acts often being compared (with Adam on the negative end). ''Ocean Eyes'' has sometimes been critically summarized as a failed attempt at making the second Postal Service album.

* UpdatedRerelease: Several songs in ''Ocean Eyes'' can be found on earlier albums with slight changes.

His music tends to cause ''lots'' of {{WAFF}}, and is rather [[LoveItOrHateIt polarizing]]. Not so much toward Hollywood executives, though, as he's become the go-to guy for end credit songs to animated features.

** Possibly one to the Literature/TheBoxcarChildren in "Umbrella Beach"

** During his Livestream listening party for his new album, The Midsummer Station, he says that "Hello, Seattle" was the first song he wrote, and that he wrote it by writing down the first things that came to mind. If it rhymes, it goes.

'''Discography:'''

* ''Of June'' (2007) (Extended Play)
* ''Maybe I'm Dreaming'' (2008) (Album)
* ''Ocean Eyes'' (2009) (Album)
* ''All Things Bright and Beautiful'' (2011) (Album)
* ''Shooting Star'' (2012) (Extended Play)
* ''The Midsummer Station'' (2012) (Album)
* ''The Midsummer Station (Acoustic)'' (2013)
* ''Ultraviolet'' (2014) (Extended Play)
* ''Mobile Orchestra'' (2015) (Album)

* DarkerAndEdgier: "This Isn't The End" is far more dark and melancholy than the usual Owl City fare, dealing with a father who committed suicide, and the affect this had on his daughter. [[spoiler: Ultimately, however, the song does end on an optimistic note.]]

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Just listen to those lyrics.
** ''All Things Bright and Beautiful'' has given us a song ''based on this''. "The Real World" pretty much runs with this concept in quite a nice way:

** His Twitter account.

* CursedWithAwesome: Imagine: he never would have got this famous if he didn't have insomnia.

* HiddenDepths: He makes electronic music but counts Refused, Ampere, and Norma Jean as some of his favorite bands. Think he can only do squeaky clean {{WAFF}}-y stuff? [[http://moderngardening.tumblr.com/post/28183947722/produced-on-my-flight-from-tokyo-to-seoul-josh Think again]].

* LyricalDissonance: He has this odd habit of inserting the creepiest lyrics into otherwise innocent, peppy synth-pop. See [[NightmareFuel/OwlCity the nightmare fuel subpage]] for more.
** Adam might have [[http://www.ayoungblog.com/post/72830307834/spoiler-owl-city-is-95-sad-lyrics-over-uplifting said it best]] himself.

** Yes, both of the above seem to about the same place.

* ProductPlacement: The video for ''Good Time'' (featuring Music/CarlyRaeJepsen) features a Fiat FIAT 500 prominently... now a FunnyAneurysmMoment based on rumors that the FIAT 500 may be rebranded as a Dodge vehicle.

* SillyLoveSongs: "The Bird and the Worm," "Tip of the Iceberg," "On the Wing," "The Saltwater Room," "If My Heart Was a House..." The list goes on.
** It should be noted, however, that he almost never used the word "love" in the lyrics of any of these songs, [[FridgeBrilliance which accounts for some of his more heartfelt lyrics that actually express love in *gasp* a creative way!]]

* SweetDreamsFuel: Practically his entire discography.
** At least until you listen carefully to [[LyricalDissonance some of the lyrics...]]

* WorldOfPun:
** "Dental Care." Just... "Dental Care."
** Same thing with "Rugs from Me to You," even in the ''title''.

* ''Of June'' (2007)
* ''Maybe I'm Dreaming'' (2008)
* ''Ocean Eyes'' (2009)
* ''All Things Bright and Beautiful'' (2011)
* ''Shooting Star'' (2012)
* ''The Midsummer Station'' (2012)

* ''Ultraviolet'' (2014)
* ''Mobile Orchestra'' (2015)

His music tends to cause ''lots'' of {{WAFF}}, and is rather [[LoveItOrHateIt polarizing]]. Not so much toward Hollywood executives, though, as he has contributed original songs to no less than 3 CG animated films in the past 3 years.

Owl City is [[Series/IAmTheBand Adam Young with a synthesizer]]. His most popular song to date is "Fireflies," a sweet little song that seems to be about a boy whose dreams are inhabited by countless of the aforenamed insects (in actuality, it's a song about Adam's insomnia, but very few people seem to either know or care). Some of his other songs include "Vanilla Twilight," a nostalgic look at unrequited love, and "Umbrella Beach" which is about... [[MindScrew something]]. He collaborated with Music/CarlyRaeJepsen, singer of "Call Me Maybe," with "Good Time" in 2012.

Owl City is [[IAmTheBand Adam Young with a synthesizer]]. His most popular song to date is "Fireflies," a sweet little song that seems to be about a boy whose dreams are inhabited by countless of the aforenamed insects (in actuality, it's a song about Adam's insomnia, but very few people seem to either know or care). Some of his other songs include "Vanilla Twilight," a nostalgic look at unrequited love, and "Umbrella Beach" which is about... [[MindScrew something]]. He collaborated with Music/CarlyRaeJepsen, singer of "Call Me Maybe," with "Good Time" in 2012.

** [[spoiler:{{LIGHTS}}]] in the video for "Deer in The Headlights."

** Adam's particularly fond of {{Incredibly Lame Pun}}s on his {{Twitter}}. Just check a backlog, and you'll see. Here's one:

* ProductPlacement: The video for ''Good Time'' (featuring CarlyRaeJepsen) features a Fiat FIAT 500 prominently... now a FunnyAneurysmMoment based on rumors that the FIAT 500 may be rebranded as a Dodge vehicle.

** From ''The Midsummer Station'', [[{{Superman}} Metropolis]]. Not just the name, the words 'speeding bullet' are actually used in the lyrics. It's actually possible to interpret that whole section of the chorus as one, 'hijacked plane' to the famous 'is it a bird, is it a plane', 'runaway train' to the 'more powerful than a locomotive' and 'speeding bullet' to 'faster than a speeding bullet'.
** Possibly one to the BoxcarChildren in "Umbrella Beach"

* BreakthroughHit: "Fireflies"

* FanNickname: The male-Lights by fans of {{Lights}}, Owl City fans tend to refer to her as the female-Owl City.

"With a starry brush, paint the dusk venetian blue, because in the evening hush, you'll never believe the view'
* OneOfUs: Is a [[DoctorWho Whovian]] and reads ''{{Homestuck}}''.