Butterfly (Mariah Carey song)

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"Butterfly"
Single by Mariah Carey
from the album Butterfly
Released	December 1, 1997 (UK)
Format	CD single (non-U.S.)
Genre	Pop
Length	4:35
Label	Sony
Writer(s)	Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff
Producer(s)	Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff
Chart positions
#22 (UK) #27 (Australia)
Mariah Carey singles chronology
"Honey" (1997)	"Butterfly" (1997)	"Breakdown" (1998)

"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.

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 as it was not issued as a commercial single in the United States and 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 which airplay-only singles were allowed to enter, reaching the top twenty on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart. "Butterfly" was not a substantial hit outside the U.S., and performed modestly in Europe.

"Butterfly" was nominated for the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, losing to "Building a Mystery" by Sarah McLachlan. The single's video, co-directed by Carey and Daniel Pearl, 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 and "Def 'B' Fly" mix. A shortened version of the former, known simply as "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)", is included as an interlude on the Butterfly album. 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)".

[edit] Charts

Chart (1997)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	16
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay	27
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40	14
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	8
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40	35
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	11
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 1	13
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40	2
UK Singles Chart	22
Sweden Top 60 Singles	24
Australia ARIA Singles Chart	27
France Top 100 Singles	43
Germany Singles Chart	76

¹ "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)".