Young also records under the names Sky Sailing, Port Blue, Color Therapy, Insect Airport, Seagull Orchestra and his own name, Adam Young.
Young started out making music in 2007 in his basement in his hometown of Owatonna, Minnesota, United States, later developing a following through his MySpace profile before being signed to Universal Republic. Young has released seven albums under the Owl City moniker: "Maybe I'm Dreaming" (2008), "Ocean Eyes" (2009), "All Things Bright and Beautiful" (2011), "The Midsummer Station" (2012), "Mobile Orchestra" (2015), "Cinematic" (2018), and "Coco Moon" (2023). Young's 2009 single "Fireflies" reached #1 in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and The Netherlands. His second major hit, 2012's "Good Time" featuring Carly Rae Jepsen reached #8 in the US and #1 in New Zealand.
He was also once a member of Windsor Airlift and Swimming with Dolphins, both of which he is no longer involved with.
Hot Air Balloon
Owl City Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To our own fairy tale
And bought a parachute
At a church rummage sale
And with a mean sewing machine
And miles of thread
We sewed the day above L.A.
We wound a race track
Through your mom's kitchen chairs
And fought the shadows back
Down your dark basement stairs
I lit a match, then let it catch
To light up the room
And then you yelled as we beheld
An old maroon hot air balloon
I'll be out of my mind
And you'll be out of ideas
Pretty soon
So let's spend
The afternoon in a cold hot air balloon
Leave your jacket behind
Lean out and touch the treetops over town
I can't wait
To kiss the ground
Wherever we touch back down
We drank the Great Lakes
Like cold lemonade
And both got stomach aches
Sprawled out in the shade
So bored to death you held your breath
And I tried not to yawn
You made my frown turn upside down
And now my worries are gone
I'll be out of my mind
And you'll be out of ideas
Pretty soon
So let's spend
The afternoon in a cold hot air balloon
Leave your jacket behind
Lean out and touch the treetops over town
I can't wait
To kiss the ground
Wherever we touch back down
I'll be out of my mind
And you'll be out of ideas
Pretty soon
So let's spend
The afternoon in a cold hot air balloon
Leave your jacket behind
Lean out and touch the treetops over town
I can't wait
To kiss the ground
Wherever we touch back down
The lyrics of Owl City's "Hot Air Balloon" depicts a whimsical adventure taken by the singer and their companion. The first verse sets up the scene of how they prepared for the journey, creating their own "fairy tale" by sewing a parachute and making use of a church rummage sale. They then proceed to wind a racetrack through the mom's kitchen chairs and down "your dark basement stairs." The following section describes the moment of adventure; the singer lit a match to light up the room, revealing an "old maroon hot air balloon." The duo then spends their afternoon in the hot air balloon, drinking Great Lakes, leaning out and touching the treetops, and looking forward to kiss the ground wherever the balloon touches back down.
The song touches on themes of spontaneity, adventure, and living in the moment. The opening lyrics, "We wrote a prelude to our own fairy tale," suggests the singer and the companion are the authors of their destiny, creating their magical moments. They made their adventure exciting, even though it was a seemingly ordinary hot air balloon ride. The lyrics are packed with imagery that paints a vivid picture of the adventure. The intricacies of winding a racetrack through a basement and the experience of drinking Great Lakes and getting stomach aches are some examples.
Line by Line Meaning
We wrote a prelude
We started our own love story
To our own fairy tale
Our love story feels like a fairytale
And bought a parachute
We got ready for an adventure
At a church rummage sale
We found the parachute at a garage sale
And with a mean sewing machine
We used a fierce sewing machine
And miles of thread
And lots of thread
We sewed the day above L.A.
We flew over Los Angeles in our homemade hot air balloon
In navy and red
The balloon was navy and red
We wound a race track
We created a race track
Through your mom's kitchen chairs
With the chairs in your mom's kitchen
And fought the shadows back
We overcame our fears
Down your dark basement stairs
In the darkness of your basement
I lit a match, then let it catch
I lit a match and let it burn
To light up the room
To brighten up the room
And then you yelled as we beheld
You shouted as we saw
An old maroon hot air balloon
An antique red hot air balloon
I'll be out of my mind
I'll be crazy
And you'll be out of ideas
You'll be out of inspiration
Pretty soon
Soon enough
So let's spend
Let's spend some time
The afternoon in a cold hot air balloon
In a chilly hot air balloon in the afternoon
Leave your jacket behind
Forget the jacket
Lean out and touch the treetops over town
Lean out and touch the treetops above the city
I can't wait
I'm excited
To kiss the ground
To touch the ground
Wherever we touch back down
Wherever we land
We drank the Great Lakes
We drank lots of water
Like cold lemonade
As if it was cold lemonade
And both got stomach aches
We both got stomachaches
Sprawled out in the shade
Relaxed in the shade
So bored to death you held your breath
We were so bored you held your breath
And I tried not to yawn
I tried not to yawn
You made my frown turn upside down
You made me happy
And now my worries are gone
I am carefree now
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ADAM R. YOUNG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind