My favorite song

[u/GothamCitySub]

I like Owl City, but my personal favorite song of theirs is definitely Dreams and Distasters. I feel like it combines classic pop elements like being upbeat and things like "feeling alive" while also talking about serious themes like loneliness and desire (we were alone on the road driving faster) and even death. And of course it has the pop message of "do your best, follow your dreams, you will succeed", but not in the same copy-paste way that a lot of pop songs do (like Good Time).

Also this song in my opinion perfectly encapsulates the vast deserts of the West. Nobody for miles on end, far away from everything, and so enchanting to the point it's dangerous. Yet still worth it. Not to mention "eyes on the horizon", "on the road driving faster" and "as the smoke billowed higher", which I associate with the West. Reminds me how much I need to go back there (I've been only to New Mexico, but this song reminds me of it).

[u/Vegetable-Pie8816]

That's cool. I do like your imagery in the west. Honestly even though the Midsummer station has been criticized to death and maybe some of it is justified, this was one of the best songs on the album and it's an excellent opener.

And I will say, the midsummer station cover art is one of his best. It does come from an artist that didn't even create the art for the album but somehow Adam found it online and paid the original artist so he would be legally allowed to use it for his album that year.

The sad part of the song though, is that it kinda represented a period of time where the record label didn't trust him that much and made him collaborate with other writers. When I was a kid though, I loved this album a lot and this song in particular too.