Fireflies -- Owl City

"Fireflies" by Owl City 
Released: 2009
Song sentiment: My insomnia causes delusions.

Original lyrics in blue 
Analyzed lyrics in black

VERSE 1

You would not believe your eyes if 10 million fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep, 'cause they'd fill the open air and leave teardrops everywhere. You'd think me rude, but I would just stand and stare.

If unprecedentedly large hordes of luminescent winged beetles were to ignite Earth as I entered a routine state of rest, you would be skeptical of the signals provided to your brain by your ocular organs, because the insects would enter the atmosphere's free space, then cry haphazardly (or cause others to do so). I would position myself upright and fixate my gaze upon this phenomenon, disregarding that this may offend you.

CHORUS

I'd like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly. It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep 'cause everything is never as it seems.

My desire is to convince myself that when I divide the angular velocity of the celestial body we inhabit by 2π, the quotient is low. I find it challenging to articulate my preference for consciousness while unconscious, because reality has never once, in all of history, aligned with anyone's perception of it.

VERSE 2

'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs from 10,000 lightning bugs as they tried to teach me how to dance a foxtrot above my head, a sock hop beneath my bed, the disco ball is just hanging by a thread.

The reason for my most recent pronouncement is this: If the scenario I outlined were to materialize, I would receive 10 million affectionate squeezes from fireflies while they provided lessons in creative movement to music. Over my scalp, they demonstrate an early 20th Century couples dance, usually set to Big Band. Below my box spring, they showcase a mid 20th Century Rock-and-Roll dance targeted at high-school students. Meanwhile, a sphere covered in small square mirrors dangles flimsily from the ceiling.

(CHORUS)

BRIDGE

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? (Ha-ha)

I have diagnosed myself with chronic inability to sleep, so after exiting my bedroom, seal the entrance barrier but not completely. (Kidnap me, if you'd be so kind.) I am too exhausted to enter an unconscious state, and therefore don't understand why tallying wool-producing farm animals bores me. (Kidnap me, if you'd be so kind. Something is funny to me.)

VERSE 3

To 10 million fireflies I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes. I got misty eyes as they said farewell. But I'll know here several are if my dreams get real bizarre 'cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar. 

The scads of aforementioned bugs find it peculiar that I have a strong distaste for exchanging pleasantries that precede the parting of ways. As the insects offered a somewhat formal and antiquated phrase to indicate this departure, my tear ducts were mildly activated. That said, if the vivid thoughts I conjure while asleep become particularly unusual, I will have no difficulty locating some Lampyridae because I trapped an indeterminable quantity of them in my sealed glass container.

(CHORUS x 2)

Bills, Bills, Bills -- Destiny's Child

"Bills, Bills, Bills" by Destiny's Child

Released: 1999

Song sentiment: You are poor, so I don't love you.

Original lyrics in blue
Analyzed lyrics in black

VERSE 1

At first we started out real cool, taking me places I ain't never been. But now, you're getting comfortable, ain't doing those things you did no more. You're slowly making me pay for things your money should be handling. And now you ask to use my car. Drive it all day and don't fill up the tank. And you have the audacity to even come and step to me and ask to hold some money from me until you get your check next week.

The mutual affinity and comfort that marked the onset of our romance seems to have faded. Previously, you regularly introduced me to new places and adventures, but your motivation to impress me has weakened, and increasingly I feel pressured into fulfilling your financial debts. Currently, you request my permission to operate my vehicle, a privilege you abuse with excessive use and disregard for replenishing the gasoline reserve. Moreover, I am displeased with the inconsiderate arrogance you have shown in presuming that I can provide you with short-term loans.

BRIDGE

You trifling, good for nothing type of brother. Silly me, why haven't I found another, a baller. When times get hard, I need someone to help me out, instead of a scrub like you who don't know what a man's about.

You are a foolish, worthless African-American man, and I am also foolish for not seeking a companion who has enjoyed self-made success, a la a professional athlete. When I am faced with dire circumstances, I would rather be dating someone willing to lend assistance, as opposed to a pecuniously deficient moocher whose concept of chivalry is suspect.

CHORUS

Can you pay my bills? Can you pay my telephone bills? Do you pay my automo-bills? If you did then maybe we could chill. I don't think you do, so you and me are through. (Repeat)

Do you possess the necessary capital to cover my periodical financial obligations to creditors, including those to the company that provides my land-line and/or wireless communication services? Do you make, on my behalf, regular payments I incur due to having financed my car? Doing so would increase the chances that we could relax, but I'm under the impression that the contrary is the case; consequently, our relationship is hereby terminated.

VERSE 2

Now you've been maxing out my card. Givin' me bad credit, buyin' gifts with my own ends. Haven't paid the first bill but you're steady heading to the mall, goin' on shopping sprees, perpetrating to your friends that you be ballin'. And then you use my cell phone, calling whoever that you think at home. And then when the bill comes all of a sudden you be acting like you dumb, don't know where none of these calls come from, when your momma's number's here more than once.

Your use of my flat, bank-issued plastic rectangle in your commercial activities is so excessive that its spending power has been destroyed. Your actions damage the numerical score that allegedly reflects my ability to make timely payments on purchases, and you have used my own funds to acquire presents for me, which hardly seems like much of a present at all! Even the first set of purchases you made have not been settled by you, but that fact does not seem to deter you from making more purchases in large indoor retail centers that were popular in the 1980s. This behavior, which in most cases indicates a level of wealth and success, misleads your acquaintances accordingly. Furthermore, you dial numbers on my cordless, handheld telephone and hope to reach any individual that you suspect will be available to speak to you. When the post office delivers the monthly itemization of these communications, you use ignorance to try to shirk your financial responsibilities for these actions; this is unconvincing, however, because the list of digits associated with various parties includes multiple instances of those belonging to the woman whose body you emerged from on your first day of life, and because I never call this person, I am rather suspicious that you are the culprit.

(BRIDGES AND CHORUSES UNTIL THE END)

Man! I Feel Like A Woman -- Shania Twain

"Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" by Shania Twain

Released: 1999

Song Sentiment: Women, such as me, enjoy experiences, behave more freely and take more risks than men do.

Original lyrics in blue
Analyzed lyrics in black

INTRO

Let's go, girls. Come on.

It is time for us to vacate the premises, young women. Exercise haste.
VERSE 1

I'm going out tonight, I'm feeling alright. Gonna let it all hang out. Wanna make some noise, really raise my voice. Yeah, I wanna scream and shout. No inhibitions, make no conditions. Get a little outta line. I ain't gonna act politically correct. I only wanna have a good time. The best thing about bein' a woman is the prerogative to have a little fun and ...

My health is sufficient to warrant leaving home after dusk. I intend to allow my fat to spill over my clothing. I would like to make alarming sounds of panic or glee with no regard for personal restraint, connectivity with my environment or the laws therein. I will offend members of minority groups because my sole desire is my own amusement. The most appealing aspect of my gender is that it affords me the right to partake in recreation, in moderation. Plus ...

CHORUS

Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy, forget I'm a lady. Men's shirts, short skirts. Oh, oh, oh, really go wild yeah, doin' it in style. Oh, oh, oh, get in the action, feel the attraction. Color my hair, do what I dare. Oh, oh, oh, I wanna be free yeah, to feel the way I feel. Man! I feel like a woman!

I will: (1) behave in a wholeheartedly insane fashion, misclassifying my gender in the wake of severe cognitive failure, (2) coordinate ill-fitting upper-body attire with provocatively revealing lower-body garments, (3) participate in areas of high movement and sense magnetism, (4) dye the regenerating stringy strands protruding from my cranium and take risks. I would hope that no one would limit my emotional experience or taint its authenticity. Goodness, my emotional state reflects my gender.
VERSE 2

The girls need a break, tonight we're gonna take the chance to get out on the town. We don't need romance, we only wanna dance. We're gonna let our hair hang down. The best thing about being a woman is the prerogative to have a little fun and ...

Young women require reprieve from their activities. After dusk, risk-taking behavior will result in our milling about an urban area. Sensual contact is not among our requirements, although gyrating to music is. We do not intend to wear ponytails. The most appealing aspect of my gender is that it affords me the right to partake in recreation, in moderation. Plus ...

(CHORUS, MORE OR LESS)

Mo' Money, Mo' Problems -- Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy and Ma$e

"Mo' Money, Mo' Problems," by Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy and Ma$e

Released: 1997

Song sentiment: Wealth causes grief, but we pursue it nevertheless and are thrilled about it.

Original lyrics in blue
Analyzed lyrics in black

INTRO

I'm coming out. Oh. I'm coming. I'm coming out. I'm coming.

I am exiting a structure, making a ceremonial debut and/or revealing myself to be a homosexual.

VERSE 1 (Mase)

Now, who's hot, who not? Tell me who rock, who sell out in the stores. You tell me who flopped, who copped the blue drop. Who jewels got robbed, who's mostly Dolce down to the tube socks? The same ol pimp: Ma$e. You know ain't nuttin changed but my limp. Can't stop till I see my name on a blimp. Guarantee a million sales pullin all the love. You don't believe in Harlem World n---- Double Up. We don't play around, it's a bet lay it down. N----- didn't know me '91, bet they know me now. I'm the young Harlem n---- with the golden sound. Can't no PhD n----- hold me down, Cooter. Schooled me to the game, now I know my duty. Stay humble, stay low, blow like Hootie. True pimp n----- spend no dough on the booty. And then ya yell there go Mase, there go your cutie.

At this time, which individuals have a temperature, and which do not? Inform me as to who performs music and whose recordings are so sought-after that retail outlets lack the inventory to satisfy demand? Enlighten me as to who was unsuccessful and who obtained a small amount of Windex. Which individuals had their precious stones swiped from their possession, and who wears an expensive brand of clothes on both their upper and lower body? I am Ma$e and still supervise prostitutes. I am exactly the same except for the irregular way I hobble. I will discontinue my pursuits once "Ma$e" is written on a nearby dirigible. I promise that my recordings will reach platinum status and that I will be adored. If you are not confident in my debut album, listen to the album I will release in two years. Gamble. Those who were unaware of me six years ago are, I imagine, more likely to be aware of me now. I am from a predominantly African-American neighborhood in northern Manhattan, and the vibrations emitted from my vocal chords are as precious as an expensive yellow rock that sparked massive westward movement in the 1800s. Those who have earned a doctorate cannot defeat me in a wrestling match. I may have just called you a vagina. I have learned the rules of the entertainment industry and am familiar with my obligations. Those include -- ironically, given everything I have just said -- not being arrogant and not drawing attention to myself. I will also expel wind from my mouth like a generic rock band that was popular for about two years in the mid-'90s. Because I genuinely supervise prostitutes I will have no need to employ the services of any of them. You may then consider me your boyfriend.

CHORUS

I don't know what they want from me. It's like the more money we come across, the more problems we see. (Repeat)

Others need to clarify their requests. The situation seems to be that our increasing discovery of capital is correlated with an increase in visible dilemmas.

VERSE 2 (Puff Daddy)

Yeah yeah, ahaha, it's the D to-the A to the D-D-Y. I know you'd rather see me die than to see me fly. I call all the shots, rip all the spots, rock all the rocks, cop all the drops. I know you thinkin' now when all the ballin' stops, n---- never home. Gotta call me on the yacht. Ten years from now we'll still be on top. Yo, I thought I told you that we won't stop. Now whatcha gonna do wit a crew that got money much longer than yours and a team much stronger than yours? Violate me, this'll be your day, we don't play and mess around, be D.O.A., be on your way 'cause it ain't enough time here, ain't enough lime here. For you to shine here, deal with many women but treat dimes fair, and I'm bigger than the city lights down in Times Square. Yeah, yeah yeah.

Yes. I can spell the latter half of one of my many stage names. You would prefer not living to watching me get airborne. I am autonomous, popular in concert, a wearer of jewelry and a procurer of convertibles. The best way to reach me is by telephone while I am sailing. Ma$e, Notorious B.I.G. and I will be the most popular rappers until 2007. I may have already mentioned these long-term goals to you. What are your intentions with us, given our superior wealth and vigor? If you attempt to assault me, we will kill you. So leave, because this venue lacks ample temperal flexibility and citrus fruit. If you stay, your success will depend on the just treatment of both females and 10-cent coins, or perhaps marijuana. Also, my sense of self-worth, analogous to manmade light, exceeds that of the illuminated signs in a five-block area of New York City popular among tourists. Yes.

(CHORUS)

VERSE 3 (Notorious B.I.G.)

Uhh, uhh. B-I-G P-O, P-P-A. No info, for the, D.E.A. Federal agents mad cause I'm flagrant. Tap my cell, and the phone in the basement. My team supreme, stay clean. Triple beam. Lyrical dream, I be that cat you see at all events bent, gats in holsters girls on shoulders. Playboy, I told ya, bring ya might to me, bruise too much, I lose too much. Step on stage the girls boo too much. I guess it's cause you run with lame dudes too much. Me lose my touch, never that. If I did, ain't no problem to get the gat. Where the true players at? Throw your rolees in the sky wave em side to side and keep your hands high while I give your girl the eye, player please. Lyrically, n---- see B.I.G. be flossin jig on the cover of Fortune, Five double oh, here's my phone number, your man ain't got to know, I got the dough, got the flow down pizzat, platinum plus like thizzat, dangerous on trizzack, leave your ass blizzack.

Yes. I can spell one of my many stages names. I refuse to cooperate with the Drug Enforcement Agency. My candid narcotics use frustrates the agency's employees so much that they monitor my communications. However, those with whom I work are sober. A scale used to weigh drugs. Aspirations of being a rap star. I am the one who stars in concerts where the patrons carry guns and lift women up so they can get a better view. I previously said to you, promiscuous man, that any attempts to demonstrate your masculinity will result in tender blue marks on your flesh, and I will suffer excessive losses. And women don't care for your performances because your friends are disabled. My ability to entertain is everlasting; but even if it's not, that's OK because I will just shoot somebody. Pardon, but have you seen honest individuals engaged in a game? Thrust your expensive watches upward and swing them to and fro. While you are distracted with that, I will flirt with your date. I will tell her I am rich and have been featured flaunting my riches on a magazine about those who flaunt their riches, and that I am good at rapping and successful and that she should cheat on you.

(CHORUS)

To Love You More -- Celine Dion

“To Love You More,” by Celine Dion

Released: 1995

Song sentiment: I am convinced that between me and this other girl you’ve been going out with, I’m the one who is more suited to you, and even though we are no longer together and there is no real evidence to support my claim that I’m a better choice of girlfriend for you, I’m convinced that deep down, you agree with me on that point and we should resume our relationship.

Original lyrics in blue
Analyzed lyrics in black

VERSE 1
Take me back into the arms I love. Need me like you did before. Touch me once again, and remember when there was no one that you wanted more.

Return me to the forelimbs with which I am enamored. Require my presence in the same manner as on previous occasions. Place your fingers upon my person one additional time and recall a specific instance in which you desired me with greater intensity than any other person.

VERSE 2
Don't go, you know you’ll break my heart. She won't love you like I will. I'm the one who'll stay when she walks away, and you know I'll be standing here still.

I demand that you stay in this location as you are, in fact, aware that your leaving will cause me to suffer a serious cardiac avulsion. The other woman you are considering leaving me for will not be able to provide a level of affection that is commensurate with what I am prepared to offer you. Only I will remain in this location upon the moment she inevitably makes a retreat, and furthermore, you possess the knowledge that I will remain in an upright position on this very spot.

CHORUS

I'll be waiting for you here inside my heart. I'm the one who wants to love you more. You will see I can give you everything you need. Let me be the one to love you more.

In the future, I will anticipate your return as I remain in this location, which is within the muscular organ that supplies oxygen-rich blood to all of my organs. I am the individual who wishes to experience an emotion of deep affection for you and forge a connection with you that is greater than what you would have with that other woman you’re considering being with. You will find that I am in a position to be able to provide you with all of items represented in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, from the basics of food and shelter up to the ability to achieve self-actualization. Allow me the opportunity to take on the role as the individual who experiences an emotion of deep affection for you and forges a connection with you that is greater than that other woman you’re considering being with.

VERSE 3
See me as if you never knew. Hold me so you can't let go. Just believe in me. I will make you see all the things that your heart needs to know.

Look at me like you possessed zero awareness or understanding of anything at any time, ever. Keep me in your grasp so tightly that it is impossible for you to relax your grip. Simply credit my existence. I am planning to cause your eyes to send signals to your brain that result in your perception of visual stimuli that represent everything that your cardiac muscle requires in terms of knowledge, assuming that it were to possess its own brain.

CHORUS

BRIDGE
And some way all the love that we had can be saved. Whatever it takes we'll find a way.

Believe me, I will make you see all the things that your heart needs to know.


In addition, there exists a path wherein the feelings of deep affection and connection that we possessed in the past may potentially be salvaged. Regardless of the actions that must be performed in order to make the aforementioned happen, we will stumble across this pathway.

Accept what I am saying as the truth, I will cause you to be able to visualize everything that your cardiac muscle requires in terms of knowledge, assuming that it were to possess its own brain.

MODIFIED CHORUS

I’ll be.
Waiting for you, here inside my heart, I’m the one who wants to love you more. Can’t you see I can give you everything you need? Let me be the one to love you more.

I will exist.
Ancitipating your return as I remain in this location, which is within the muscular organ that supplies oxygen-rich blood to all of my organs. I am the individual who wishes to experience an emotion of deep affection for you and forge a connection with you that is greater than that other woman you’re considering being with. Are you unable to comprehend that I am in a position to be able to provide you with all of items represented in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, from the basics of food and shelter up to the ability to achieve self-actualization? Allow me the opportunity to take on the role as the individual who experiences an emotion of deep affection for you and forges a connection with you that is greater than that other woman you’re considering being with.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.


Either an interjection commonly used to express surprise, acknowledgement, or comprehension of new information, or the 15th letter of the alphabet, repeated 84 times.

Shake Your Bon-Bon -- Ricky Martin

"Shake Your Bon-Bon," by Ricky Martin

Released: 2000

Song sentiment: I am a voyeur who would like to see you wiggle your buttocks in various unlikely scenarios.

Original lyrics in blue
Analyzed lyrics in black

VERSE 1

I'm a desperado underneath your window. I see your silhouette. Are you my Juliet? I feel a mad connection with your body. Shake your bon-bon, shake your bon-bon, shake your bon-bon. I wanna be your lover, your only latin lover. We'll go around the world in a day. Don't say no, no. Shake it my way, oh shake your bon-bon, shake your bon-bon, shake your bon-bon.

I am an outlaw of the American frontier, lusting after you as I stare at you through a hole in your wall. Do you love me enough to kill yourself? I know our physical beings are crazily linked. Wiggle your buttocks. I would like to be the only Hispanic person with whom you copulate. We will circumnavigate the globe within 24 hours. You may not refuse. Wiggle your buttocks.

CHORUS

Hola Amiga, hola Amiga. You're my temple of desire. We'll go around the world in a day. Don't say no, no. Shake it my way, oh shake your bon-bon, shake your bon-bon, shake your bon-bon.

Hi, friend. I open your body every week, step inside and worship temptation. We will circumnavigate the globe within 24 hours. You may not refuse. Wiggle your buttocks.

VERSE 2

You're a Mata Hari. I wanna know your story. In the Sahara sun I wanna be the one that's gonna come and take you, make you shake your bon-bon, shake your bon-bon, shake your bon-bon. Up in the Himalayas, c'mon I wanna lay ya. We'll go around the world in a day. Don't say no, no. Shake it my way, oh shake your bon-bon, shake your bon-bon, shake your bon-bon.

You are a dead Dutch dancer whose life I would like to learn about. Amidst the blistering desert heat, I would care to kidnap you and force you to wiggle your buttocks. I want to fornicate with you on the world's highest mountain range, in Asia. We will circumnavigate the globe within 24 hours. You may not refuse. Wiggle your buttocks.

(CHORUS)

Cannonball -- The Breeders

"Cannonball," by The Breeders

Released: 1993

Song sentiment: I'm high?

Original lyrics in blue
Analyzed lyrics in black

VERSE 1A

Spitting in a wishing well. Blown to hell, crash. I'm the last splash. I know you little libertine. I know you're a real coocoo.

After people whisper their hopes into coins and throw them into an underground water source, I project my saliva there. A shift in the wind has sent something to Satan's domain, followed by a collision. After me, there will be no other showy displays. We have met, you diminutive, spiritually unharnessed thinker. I am also aware that you are mentally unsound, truly.

CHORUS

Want you, coocoo, cannonball. Want you, coocoo, cannonball. Hey now in the shade, in the shade. Hey now in the shade, in the shade.

There is a psychologically unhealthy aspect of my desire for a spherical piece of ammunition used hundreds of years ago in ground wars. Currently, I'm shielded from the sun.

VERSE 1B

I know you little libertine. I know you're a cannonball. I'll be your whatever you want. The bong in this reggae song.

We have met, you diminutive, spiritually unharnessed thinker. I'm aware that you were loaded into and then fired from a loud, destructive piece of artillery. Your desires will determine the form I take, even if that form is a marijuana pipe amidst a Jamaican ditty.

(MIXTURES OF PREVIOUS LINES)