Fireflies
Share this song
Verse 1: Adam Young
You would not believe your eyes if ten million firefliesLit up the world as I fell asleep'Cause they'd fill the open air and leave teardrops everywhereYou'd think me rude, but I would just stand and stareChorus: Adam Young
I'd like to make myself believeThat planet Earth turns slowlyIt's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep'Cause everything is never as it seemsVerse 2: Adam Young
'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugsAs they tried to teach me how to danceA foxtrot above my head, a sock hop beneath my bedA disco ball is just hanging by a threadChorus: Adam Young
I'd like to make myself believeThat planet Earth turns slowlyIt's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep'Cause everything is never as it seems (When I fall asleep)Bridge: Adam Young & Matt Thiessen
Leave my door open just a crack(Please take me away from here)'Cause I feel like such an insomniac(Please take me away from here)Why do I tire of counting sheep(Please take me away from here)When I'm far too tired to fall asleep?Verse 3: Adam Young
To ten million fireflies, I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyesI got misty eyes as they said farewell (They said farewell)But I'll know where several are if my dreams get real bizarre'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar (Jar, jar, jar)Chorus: Adam Young
I'd like to make myself believeThat planet Earth turns slowlyIt's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep'Cause everything is never as it seems (When I fall asleep)I'd like to make myself believeThat planet Earth turns slowlyIt's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep'Cause everything is never as it seems (When I fall asleep)Outro: Adam Young
I'd like to make myself believeThat planet Earth turns slowlyIt's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleepBecause my dreams are bursting at the seamsWhat the song means
A dreamer struggles with insomnia while fantasizing about magical fireflies and dancing. The narrator wants to escape reality and preserve childhood wonder, expressing the bittersweet conflict between dreams and waking life. Everything feels more beautiful in imagination than in reality.
Learn a word
insomniac — someone who cannot sleep
the narrator feels tired but unable to fall asleep despite exhaustion
