"Vanilla Twilight" is a song by American electronica act

Owl City Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young (American musician), Adam Young, who created the project while exp ...

. The song was released on January 26, 2010 as the second single from his second studio album '' Ocean Eyes''. "Vanilla Twilight" attained chart placement prior to the release date, following the success of Owl City's previous single "

Fireflies The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

Background

In an interview with ''Female First'', Adam Young stated that the song is "about a girl." He further explained the song's meaning in an interview with Buzzgrinder: "I met the most charming girl imaginable when I was in high school and most of my 'cozy' songs are about her. She moved away to college for a few years and we kind of lost touch. She and I recently started talking to each other again and life has a way of reshaping sometimes. I'm absolutely crazy about her."

Composition

Written and produced by Young, the track runs at 166 BPM and is in the key of

B major B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its enharmonic equi ...

. Young's range in the song spans from the notes F#4 to Gb5. The song is one of the oldest tracks from ''Ocean Eyes'' as it was written in 2007. When the album needed a ballad, Young tweaked some lyrics and it "fitted perfectly." According to Young via

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, he stated, "'Vanilla Twilight' is about telling the person you love the most, 'I wish you were here with me.'"

Music video

The music video for "Vanilla Twilight" premiered on March 22, 2010. The video uses the album version of the song and features a cameo appearance by

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

. The video was directed by Steve Hoover and was filmed on location in

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, Pennsylvania, and at the Marblehead Lighthouse in Ohio. The video shows various people and a dog witness in awe, staring at a swirling mammatus cloud formation associated with a

squall line A squall line, or quasi-linear convective system (QLCS), is a line of thunderstorms, often forming along or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front (which often are accompanied by abrupt a ...

. It has a well-defined

vortex In fluid dynamics, a vortex (: vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in th ...

which is lit by a veiled sun on an overcast day after a snowfall has blanketed the area, displaying a ''vanilla twilight''. Midway through the video the storm and a lighthouse glimmer with

aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

colors. Towards the end of the video O'Neal lifts his arms towards the cloud and mouths "Take me with you."

Chart performance

On the chart of November 7, 2009, the same week "

" hit No. 1, "Vanilla Twilight" debuted on No. 95 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It has since re-entered and peaked on the Hot 100 at No. 72. "Vanilla Twilight" first entered the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

at No. 50 on the week ending January 11, 2010, which happened to coincide with "Fireflies" holding its reign as the No. 1 hit single. The song later peaked at No. 44. Following the release of '' Ocean Eyes'', "Vanilla Twilight" entered the UK Singles Chart at a current peak of No. 94, making it Owl City's second consecutive single to enter the UK Top 100.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2009 songs 2010 singles Owl City songs Universal Republic Records singles Songs written by Adam Young