Bright and Beautiful

It might have been Joey that introduced me to Owl City last year, I can’t remember. The song Fireflies was big and I remember checking it out and then getting the whole album. I didn’t know anything about Adam Young and his optimistic music, but it has been a little while now and I have been keeping up with him on his blog. Owl City is a bunch of electronic sweetness with lyrics that are full of hope and light. Young is a committed follower of Jesus, and if you listen to his lyrics, you will find references to all kinds of spiritual stuff woven throughout the tapestry of his music. Some of it is fluffy and fun, but there are some really deep songs in there that are just altogether awesome. And very danceable. Recently, he wrote this on the Owl City blog:

“Sometimes I’m asked why the music I create tends to sound like it does — why the optimistic flavor? Is that because you’re an excessively happy person? Do you ever have bad days? It’s an innocent question and I enjoy answering it because music has always been my way of “dealing with life” by way of escapism. Rather than create art that mirrors the inevitable dark days I’m plagued with just like everyone, I prefer to let my daydreams carry me away into places where one can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone, in a way that only the mind can allow. And rather than express whatever angst and malaise that gets dealt my way by writing profane songs littered with curse words or crude allegories or sexual vulgarities, I’d rather spend my time imagining how immensely BEAUTIFUL this life has the perfect potential of being. Of course, each artist to his or her own, but somehow “portraying true, gritty hard reality” tends to make me sick, whatever the medium of art. I can’t even watch an R-rated movie without feeling violated and totally nasty. … Cloudy days are terribly unavoidable and thus, I keep a line of text printed on the front of my mind to keep myself remembering why I continually strive to gaze past the thunderheads and on into a world beyond reality. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him. — Philippians 3:8-9″

It’s all about eternal perspective and realizing that there is so much more than what we can see. It’s something that most people nowadays have lost… their imaginations. I grew up without a TV and lived through books and public radio theatre and wandering outside in the land of thick jungles, islands along the mighty rivers, and treks through the endless forests… A place where imagination was free to roam and my worlds were what I could create in my mind. Don’t lose your sense of wonder, and keep a firm grasp on what lies beyond is far far greater than what you can see in the here and now. So that’s why I listen to Owl City. New album hits on June 14th!