Butterfly (Mariah Carey song)

Infobox Single
Name = Butterfly


Artist = Mariah Carey
Album = Butterfly
Released = December 1, 1997 (UK)
Format = CD single (non-U.S.)
[ Recorded = ]
Genre = Pop
Length = 4:35
Label = Sony
Writer = Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff
Producer = Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff
Last single = "Honey"
(1997)
This single = "Butterfly"
(1997)
Next single = "Breakdown"
(1998)
Misc = Extra track listing
Album = Butterfly
Type = studio
prev_track = "Honey"
prev_no = 1
this_track = "Butterfly"
track_no = 2
next_track = "My All"
next_no = 3Extra track listing
Album = Greatest Hits (CD #2)
Type = compilation
prev_track = "Honey"
prev_no = 5
this_track = "Butterfly"
track_no = 6
next_track = "My All"
next_no = 7Extra track listing
Album = The Remixes (CD #1)
Type = remix album
prev_track = "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely (Junior's Heartbreaker Club Mix)"
prev_no = 2
this_track = "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) (Fly Away Club Mix)"
track_no = 3
next_track = "Anytime You Need a Friend (C&C Club Version)"
next_no = 4

"Butterfly" is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff for Carey's seventh album, "Butterfly" (1997). It is a ballad combining elements of pop and gospel, but Carey had originally conceived it as a house record with David Morales titled "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)". After realizing how personal the lyrics were and how they could be applied to "Butterfly", she wrote "Butterfly" with Afanasieff. [citenews|publisher=Salon|title=Sharps and Flats|date=1997-09-19|url= http://www.salon.com/sept97/sharps/sharps970930.html] On the song's lyrics, Carey comments "It was '97 and I was leaving my marriage [to Tommy Mottola] which encompassed my life. I was writing the song 'Butterfly' wishing that that's what he would say to me." [mariahdaily.com|publisher=Interview Magazine|date=September, 2008|url=http://www.mariahdaily.com/news/news-archive-9-2007.shtml]

It was released as the album's second single in 1997 (see 1997 in music). It did not appear on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 chart because it was not issued as a commercial single in the United States; "Billboard" magazine rules at the time stipulated that a commercial release was required for a song to enter the Hot 100. It was a moderate success on charts that airplay-only singles were allowed to enter, such as the Rhythmic Top 40, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Top 40 charts, and it reached number sixteen on "Billboard"'s Hot 100 Airplay chart. "Butterfly" was not a substantial hit outside the U.S.: it reached number twenty-two in the UK and number twenty-seven in Australia, failing to match the success of "Honey", the album's first single. In France and Germany the single did not reach the top forty.

"Butterfly" was nominated for the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, which it lost to Sarah McLachlan's "Building a Mystery".

Music video and remixes

The single's video was co-directed by Carey and Daniel Pearl. It is inspired by the Tennessee Williams play "Baby Doll" and a dream of Carey's. It starts with a man leaving a house with Carey inside, and Carey is then seen wandering through a forest with horses.

David Morales created several dance remixes of the song — in addition to the original version of "Butterfly", which is known as "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)" — among them the "Fly Away" club mix (an extended version of Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) and "Def 'B' Fly" mix (a variation of the "Fly Away" club mix with completely re-sung vocals of the original "Butterfly". "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)" reached the top twenty on the "Billboard" Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, and a shortened version is included as an interlude on the album "Butterfly". Latin remixes of "Butterfly", influenced by the musical styles of flamenco and salsa, were also commissioned by Meme. They include "Butterfly" (Sambatterfly), "Butterfly" (Classic Bossa Nova), and "Butterfly" (Meme's extended club mix part 1).

Remixes and other versions

*Butterfly [Album Version] 4:35
*Butterfly [Sambatterfly Edit] 4:41
*Butterfly [Classic Bossa Nova] 4:11
*Butterfly [Sambatterfly For Clubbers] 8:24
*Butterfly [Sambatterfly Extended Remix] 8:22
*Butterfly [Meme's Extended Club Mix] 8:42
*Butterfly [Meme's Club Mix Part 1 & 2] 12:24
*Butterfly [Meme Club Radio] 4:18
*Butterfly [Meme Latinbeats] 3:57
*Butterfly [TV Track] 8:41
*Butterfly [TV Track Short] 4:19
*Butterfly [Instrumental] 8:41
*Butterfly [Radio Instrumental] 4:19
*Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) [Album Version] 3:49
*Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) [Def 'B' Fly Mix] 8:38
*Fly Away [David Morales Club Mix] 9:50

Charts

References