Nightmare Fuel / Owl City

Didn't think such a peppy, bubbly musician like Adam Young could bring some scary stuff to the table, did you? But once you listen closely, the most effervescent of lyrics become absolutely horrific.

---

• "Rainbow Veins" had "Cheer up and dry your damp eyes / And tell me when it rains / And I'll blend up that rainbow above you / And shoot it through your veins."
• "The Tip of the Iceberg" had, "Paint runs from your mouth like a waterfall, and your lungs crystallize."
• "Strawberry Avalanche" had, "Scratched on the back of both my eyelids..."
• "Cave In" had "I'll keep my helmet on, just in case my head caves in."
• Also from "Cave In"; "If the bombs go off, the sun will still be shining / Because I've heard it's said that every mushroom cloud has a silver lining". This sounds like someone trying to be optimistic as an Atom Bomb is released.
• Special mention for "The Bird and The Worm": "If my segments get separated, I'll scream / and you'll be there! " However, This might be a metaphor for falling apart at the seams/feeling overstressed, and if you call out, the person you love will be there.
  • Then again, the girl and the guy in the song are "the bird" and "the worm," respectively. And the preceding line is "I know the part, it's such a bummer / but fair is fair." Kinda sounds like she's eating him.
• From the song "Galaxies," off All Things Bright And Beautiful: "Summit the sunset / Dovetail the dragnet / And blow your backbone to bits!" Justified, however, in that it's about the Challenger explosion.
• In the video for "Youtopia", his collaboration with Armin Van Buuren, he plays the ghost of a deceased boyfriend singing to the bereaved girl on a camping trip.
• "This Isn't the End" has fairly morbid lyrics, about a man who commits suicide and the daughter he leaves behind to grieve.
• "Kamikaze" has "Where cherry bombs stain the blackbirds red, and explosions never make a sound" and "I'm finally fighting back a terrible force, 'cause I'm not afraid to die alone"... If anyone knows what kamikaze means, then...
• "The Tornado" provides a bit of Primal Fear, as it depicts a paperboy out on his route when a tornado touches down. What starts out as a bubbly and upbeat song becomes stressful and dark as our protagonist realizes the only shelter available is a storm drain. Then:
  And then the nightmare started, it got deafeningly loud
  Every fiber in me screamed out, but I couldn't make a sound
  The whirling of a vortex, a violent carousel
  It sounded like a freight train was dragging me to hell
  And this was my prayer:
  "Save me from this terrible nightmare!"