After 8 years, Owl City finally explains that weird lyric in ‘Fireflies’

If you were alive in the early 2010s chances are you’ve heard of the synth-pop song “Fireflies” by Owl City.

The song is both annoyingly catchy and ridiculously cute, yet there’s one lyric that has perplexed even the most brilliant of minds for almost a decade.

“‘Cause I’d get a thousand hugs/ From 10,000 lightning bugs”

If the logistics of this statement have kept you baffled for the past eight years, then we have good news. 

Twitter user Pryce, decided to end the confusion once and for all by confronting Owl City directly.

It wasn’t too long before Owl City’s bassist issued a response.

But people didn’t calm down so Owl City himself published a rather intellectually satisfying reply on Facebook soon after.

Owl City describes his own experience with lightning bug hugs.

I was the recipient of 1,000 hugs from 10,000 lightning bugs for a grand total of 10,000,000 hugs. As the lyrics of the song clearly state, the average layperson would not believe their eyes if 10,000,000 fireflies were to illuminate planet Earth, nor would the average person conclude by natural instinct that 10,000 lightning bugs, acting as a collective group, are capable of embracing a human being 1,000 times without difficulty. 

Owl City then elaborates on the science behind such electric embraces.

This may seem inconceivable due to the firefly’s soft-shelled body, which is common among all winged beetles within the Lampyridae insect family. Members of the scientific community may be tempted to cast doubt upon the possibility of this exchange due to the immobility of the prothorax and pterothorax, in addition to the elytra protruding outward while a firefly is engaged in mid-flight. However, I can testify to the accuracy of this exchange. 

There you have it, an answer from the wise owl who wrote the song. If you’re still confused though, Owl City encourages you to “reach out with any further questions.”