Fireflies (Owl City song)

"Fireflies"
"Fireflies"
Song

"Fireflies" is a song by Owl City. Adam Young's inspiration to write Fireflies was in 2008 when he went camping in northern Minnesota. As he tried to fall asleep in his tent, he noticed a lot of fireflies outside. "After that night, it got me thinking" Young admits in an interview in December. The song was released as the first single from Ocean Eyes. Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen is featured as a guest vocalist in the song. The single has attained worldwide success, topping the charts in the United States, Australia, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The accompanying music video for the song portrays Adam Young singing, as he plays his synthesizer in a toy-filled bedroom, causing the toys and other items in the room to magically come to life. It is unequivocally the gayest song ever written.

The UK Radio Edit Version released by Universal Ireland on January 8, 2010 has a shorter intro and the first chorus is taken out. This version has a duration of 3:14.

Music video

The music video for "Fireflies" was directed by Steve Hoover.^[1] It features Adam Young playing the song on his old (80's) synthesizer in a toy-filled bedroom, where most of the toys (including an astronaut, toy cars, and a blimp) come to life. All the toys are older model toys, most of them from the 1970s and '80s. There are also vintage household devices such as an analog television and record player. The video had an exclusive premiere on MySpace, but was leaked onto Dailymotion and YouTube soon after.

Chart performance

The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in early-September at number ninety-seven, and it reached number one in its tenth week, becoming Owl City's first number-one single.^[2]^[3] The song stayed at number one for two non-consecutive weeks, in the top ten for fifteen weeks so far and on the Hot 100 for twenty-six weeks so far.^[4] "Fireflies" contributed to sales of the album Ocean Eyes, and was credited as being responsible for its entry to the top ten on the U.S. Billboard 200.^[5] On the Billboard Hot 100 2009 year-end chart, it was ranked sixtieth.^[6] The RIAA certified "Fireflies" double-platinum in January 2010.

The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number fifty due to early download sales from a fake version that got leaked onto iTunes. The song would go on to make a forty-eight place jump to number two the following week, beaten only to the top by "Replay" by Iyaz. The following week, it rose to number one, and topped the chart for three consecutive weeks. The BPI certified "Fireflies" silver in February 2010

The song has attained success worldwide. It has reached number one in Australia, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and the Netherlands and the top ten in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the Slovak Republic.^[4]

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format
United States^[7]	July 14, 2009	Universal Republic	Digital download
Australia^[8]	November 9, 2009		CD single
United Kingdom^[9]^[10]	January 8, 2010		Digital download
United Kingdom^[9]^[10]	February 22, 2010		CD single
Ireland^[11]	January 14, 2010		Digital download
Germany^[12]	January 22, 2010		CD single

Charts

Chart (2009/2010) ^[4]^[8]^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	5
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)	2
Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia)	4
Canadian Hot 100	2
Czech Republic IFPI Top 100	10
Danish Singles Chart	1
Dutch Top 40	1
European Hot 100	3
Finland Singles Chart	7
French Digital Singles Chart	34
German Singles Chart	6
Irish Singles Chart	1
Japan Hot 100	3
New Zealand Singles Chart	2
Norwegian Singles Chart	2
Slovak Republic IFPI Top 100	8
Swedish Singles Chart	1
Swiss Singles Chart	5
UK Singles Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1

Certifications and sales

Country	Certification	Sales/shipments
United States	2× Platinum ^[20]	2,000,000+
United Kingdom	Silver ^[21]	200,000+
Australia	2× Platinum ^[22]	140,000+
New Zealand	Platinum ^[23]	15,000+
Denmark	Gold ^[24]	7,500+

Chart successions

Preceded by "Down" by Jay Sean featuring Lil Wayne "Whatcha Say" by Jason Derülo	*U.S. Billboard* Hot 100 number-one single** November 7, 2009 November 21, 2009	Succeeded by "Whatcha Say" by Jason Derülo "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys
Preceded by "100 dage" by Thomas Helmig featuring Medina	Danish Singles Chart number-one single November 20, 2009 – December 4, 2009	Succeeded by "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga
Preceded by "Just Say Yes" by Snow Patrol	Dutch Singles Chart number-one single December 26, 2009 -	Incumbent
Preceded by "TiK ToK" by Ke$ha	Australian Singles Chart number-one single January 4, 2010 – February 7, 2010	Succeeded by "Replay" by Iyaz
Preceded by "Replay" by Iyaz	UK Singles Chart number-one single January 24, 2010 – February 13, 2010	Succeeded by "Everybody Hurts" by Helping Haiti
Preceded by "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga	Irish Singles Chart number-one single January 21, 2010 – February 3, 2010	Succeeded by "Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)" by Jedward feat. Vanilla Ice
Preceded by "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga	Swedish Singles Chart number-one single February 12, 2010 -	Incumbent

References

^ "Owl City » Fireflies". MTV Music. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
^ Pietroluongo, Silvio (2009-10-29). "Owl City's 'Fireflies' Lands At No. 1 On Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
^ Pietroluongo, Silvio (2009-11-12). "Rihanna's 'Roulette' Lands In Hot 100's Top 10". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Owl City – Fireflies – Music Charts". αCharts. February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
^ Caulfield, Keith (2009-10-28). "'New Moon' Rises To No. 1 on Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
^ "Best of 2009 - Hot 100 Songs". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
^ Album Detail – Fireflies – Owl City www.owlcitymusic.com. Retrieved December 16, 2009
^ ^a ^b Owl City – Fireflies australian-charts.com
^ Owl City – Fireflies
^ Owl City – Fireflies
^ Owl City – Fireflies
^ Musicline.de – Owl City – Fireflies
^ Owl City – Fireflies www.ifpicr.cz Retrieved January 7, 2010
^ Dutch Top 40 www.radio538.nl December 23, 2009
^ Owl City – Fireflies www.ifpicr.cz Retrieved December 18, 2009
^ "Owl City – Fireflies". chartstats.com. Retrieved January 11, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ ""Fireflies" Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ German Singles Chart
^ French Digital Singles Chart
^ RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database – "Fireflies" by Owl City. www.riaa.com. December 16, 2009
^ Certified Awards Search: Owl City - Fireflies. www.bpi.co.uk February 16, 2010
^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2010 Singles". ARIA. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
^ "New Zealand Platinum Certification". RadioScope New Zealand. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
^ "Denmark Singles Chart (week 53 -2009)". IFPI. Retrieved 2010-01-10.

[MTV-1] "Owl City » Fireflies". MTV Music. Retrieved September 19, 2009.

[2] Pietroluongo, Silvio (2009-10-29). "Owl City's 'Fireflies' Lands At No. 1 On Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-10-29.

[3] Pietroluongo, Silvio (2009-11-12). "Rihanna's 'Roulette' Lands In Hot 100's Top 10". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-11-12.

[aCHARTS-4] "Owl City – Fireflies – Music Charts". αCharts. February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-12.

[5] Caulfield, Keith (2009-10-28). "'New Moon' Rises To No. 1 on Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-10-28.

[6] "Best of 2009 - Hot 100 Songs". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-12.

[7] Album Detail – Fireflies – Owl City www.owlcitymusic.com. Retrieved December 16, 2009

[CHARTS-8] Owl City – Fireflies australian-charts.com

[9] Owl City – Fireflies

[10] Owl City – Fireflies

[11] Owl City – Fireflies

[12] Musicline.de – Owl City – Fireflies

[13] Owl City – Fireflies www.ifpicr.cz Retrieved January 7, 2010

[14] Dutch Top 40 www.radio538.nl December 23, 2009

[15] Owl City – Fireflies www.ifpicr.cz Retrieved December 18, 2009

[UK_Music_Charts-16] "Owl City – Fireflies". chartstats.com. Retrieved January 11, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[bbcharts-17] ""Fireflies" Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[18] German Singles Chart

[19] French Digital Singles Chart

[20] RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database – "Fireflies" by Owl City. www.riaa.com. December 16, 2009

[21] Certified Awards Search: Owl City - Fireflies. www.bpi.co.uk February 16, 2010

[aria-22] "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2010 Singles". ARIA. Retrieved 2010-01-10.

[23] "New Zealand Platinum Certification". RadioScope New Zealand. Retrieved 2009-08-25.

[24] "Denmark Singles Chart (week 53 -2009)". IFPI. Retrieved 2010-01-10.

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