Catch Me I'm Fireflies

A couple of years ago, my daughter absolutely could not get enough of listening to a song called "Fireflies" by a musical project called "Owl City."

I listened to it with her. It is definitely catchy and I liked it too; however the more I listened to it, the more retro it sounded. I knew that "Fireflies" wasn't a rip-off from an older song, but I recognized the familiar 80s feel.

I wondered aloud if there was a Duran Duran influence? Perhaps INXS or The Pet Shop Boys? My daughter wouldn't hear of it! This was a modern song and she didn't want me ruining it for her with my talk of it not being entirely original. But, to me, the synthesizer and bits of distorted voice sounded so out of place on today's radio. It occurred to me that it had somewhat of the same feel of "Catch Me I'm Falling" from Real Life (from 1983) as if the two songs could have come from the same source.



After finding and listening to "Catch Me," I searched and found the music video for "Fireflies." In the video is an assortment of toys made in the 70s and 80s. This leads me to believe that the 80s feel of the song was deliberate and a likely tribute to the sound of my generation.

My daughter refuses to see a connection. She also says I'm weird for saying "Fireflies" sounds retro. Of course I'm weird but I don't see a connection with that and the retro thing.
Either way, here's Owl City and their very 80s-sounding "Fireflies." Perhaps YOU might see a connection...