Butterflies and Hurricanes
Encyclopedia
"Butterflies and Hurricanes" is a song by Muse
from their third album, Absolution, and was the last single released from the album. It was one of two songs recorded with a string
section, both of which were recorded, along with an early version of "Apocalypse Please
", during the initial stages of recording. The song is notable for its Rachmaninoff
-esque piano interlude.
The song concerns itself with the so called butterfly effect
of chaos theory
, describing how even tiny changes in present conditions, like a butterfly wing's flap, can cause big differences in future.
The song was also dedicated to Dominic Howard
's father, who died shortly after the band's performance at Glastonbury Festival
.
Parts of the song existed at least as early as 2000.[2] Bellamy had suggested a song featuring the band and an orchestra over a "constant paradiddle" to Dom, but Butterflies & Hurricanes really took shape when Matt spent a few hours fiddling around on Steinway in a hotel they were staying in: "I was just alone in this piano room for hours and hours and hours... I found myself playing this paradiddle, that goes [imitates paradiddle] like that over and over again. And I started playing that on just two notes, constantly playing it, over and over again until I got to a point where extra notes were sort of finding their way in there, d'you know what I mean? And it ended up building up to the point where I was playing five-note chords with each hand and playing these massive chords on the piano and it was sounding really fucking heavy, d'you know what I mean? And a chord structure started to come out of that, and I was thinking, "This could be something"".
There are several versions of "Butterflies and Hurricanes". For the original studio recording, introduction, verse and choruses were played on keyboard. The band later reworked the song for guitar during the Absolution tour, including an extended guitar solo before the piano interlude (and a bass filler to cover Matt Bellamy's transition from guitar to keyboard). This version was also performed live during the Black Holes and Revelations tour.
The single version contains both guitar and keyboard, but loses the guitar solo, and the interlude is shorter, reducing the song from 5:01 to 4:48. The vinyl single includes a full-length version with guitars. Finally, the radio edit of the single goes further by omitting the entire piano interlude, bringing the song down to 4:10.
in Rome.
on his 2004 album Within
.
The song was used by ski brand Nordica
in 2007 for the website introduction.
It is also used as the main song for Sony Computer Entertainment
game Formula One 05
, produced by Sony Studio Liverpool.
An orchestral version of the song was used as the theme and main song of the BBC's Sports Personality of the year award and on the BBC's 2010 Six Nations coverage.
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
from their third album, Absolution, and was the last single released from the album. It was one of two songs recorded with a string
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
section, both of which were recorded, along with an early version of "Apocalypse Please
Apocalypse Please
"Apocalypse Please", also known as "Emergency", is a song by English alternative rock band Muse, featured on their 2003 third studio album Absolution. Written by lead vocalist, guitarist and pianist Matthew Bellamy, a live version of the song was released as a digital download single on 23 August...
", during the initial stages of recording. The song is notable for its Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
-esque piano interlude.
The song concerns itself with the so called butterfly effect
Butterfly effect
In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions; where a small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state...
of chaos theory
Chaos theory
Chaos theory is a field of study in mathematics, with applications in several disciplines including physics, economics, biology, and philosophy. Chaos theory studies the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, an effect which is popularly referred to as the...
, describing how even tiny changes in present conditions, like a butterfly wing's flap, can cause big differences in future.
The song was also dedicated to Dominic Howard
Dominic Howard
Dominic James "Dom" Howard , is the drummer for the English rock band Muse.-Early life:Howard was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with his family to Teignmouth, a small town in Devon. He began playing drums at about the age of 12, when he...
's father, who died shortly after the band's performance at Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
.
Composition and lyrics
Matthew Bellamy declared about that song: "It's about hope, about trying to find the strength to get through any given situation. I was trying to find a classical type of piano style that would be heavy and work with bass and drums. It had that sort of mechanical paradiddle thing all the way through, and then it breaks down into this kind of romantic, flowing weird bit in the middle".Parts of the song existed at least as early as 2000.[2] Bellamy had suggested a song featuring the band and an orchestra over a "constant paradiddle" to Dom, but Butterflies & Hurricanes really took shape when Matt spent a few hours fiddling around on Steinway in a hotel they were staying in: "I was just alone in this piano room for hours and hours and hours... I found myself playing this paradiddle, that goes [imitates paradiddle] like that over and over again. And I started playing that on just two notes, constantly playing it, over and over again until I got to a point where extra notes were sort of finding their way in there, d'you know what I mean? And it ended up building up to the point where I was playing five-note chords with each hand and playing these massive chords on the piano and it was sounding really fucking heavy, d'you know what I mean? And a chord structure started to come out of that, and I was thinking, "This could be something"".
Recording
The single version features guitar rather than piano aside from the piano interlude, and excludes a voice saying "oh" at 1:21. The radio edit takes the single version and omits the piano interlude and vocal harmonies entirely. The single version features slightly heightened vocal harmonies compared to the album recording.There are several versions of "Butterflies and Hurricanes". For the original studio recording, introduction, verse and choruses were played on keyboard. The band later reworked the song for guitar during the Absolution tour, including an extended guitar solo before the piano interlude (and a bass filler to cover Matt Bellamy's transition from guitar to keyboard). This version was also performed live during the Black Holes and Revelations tour.
The single version contains both guitar and keyboard, but loses the guitar solo, and the interlude is shorter, reducing the song from 5:01 to 4:48. The vinyl single includes a full-length version with guitars. Finally, the radio edit of the single goes further by omitting the entire piano interlude, bringing the song down to 4:10.
Music video
The promotional video comprises footage of "Butterflies and Hurricanes" being played at different venues along the Absolution tour with colourful effects added, and images of the ColosseumColosseum
The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre , is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire...
in Rome.
Media
"Butterflies and Hurricanes" has been covered with full orchestral accompaniment by pop pianist William JosephWilliam Joseph (musician)
William Joseph is a pianist and recording artist from Phoenix, Arizona.William Joseph won, at age 8, a full music scholarship provided by the Boys Club of America, enabling him to study piano with Russian pianist Stella Saperstein....
on his 2004 album Within
Within (William Joseph album)
Within is the 2004 major-label debut of pianist William Joseph. His music has been compared to both Yanni and George Winston. -Track listing:# "Within" – 3:02# "Eternal" – 4:04# "Stella's Theme" – 3:43# "Butterflies and Hurricanes" – 3:45...
.
The song was used by ski brand Nordica
Nordica (Company)
Based in Treviso, Italy under the Tecnica Group, the Nordica brand manufactures skis, ski boots, and accessories for skiing....
in 2007 for the website introduction.
It is also used as the main song for Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
game Formula One 05
Formula One 05
Formula One 05 for the PlayStation 2 was released in Europe on July 1, 2005, and in Australia later that year. It featured the 'Career Mode' concept from Formula One 04, which allows players to work their way through the Formula One teams over the course of five years...
, produced by Sony Studio Liverpool.
An orchestral version of the song was used as the theme and main song of the BBC's Sports Personality of the year award and on the BBC's 2010 Six Nations coverage.
CD
- "Butterflies and Hurricanes (Single Version)" - 4:48
- "Sing for AbsolutionSing For Absolution"Sing for Absolution" is a song by English rock band Muse, serving as the title track for their third studio album, Absolution. It was released in May 2004 as the fourth single from that album, peaking at #16 in the UK Singles Chart . The song also appears on the Absolution Tour DVD...
(Live Acoustic Radio 2BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
)" - 4:28
Clear Vinyl 7"
- "Butterflies and Hurricanes (full length)" - 5:01
- "Butterflies and Hurricanes (GlastonburyGlastonbury FestivalThe Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
2004)"
DVD
- "Butterflies and Hurricanes" - 4:48
- "Butterflies and Hurricanes video" - 4:48
- "The Groove in the States video" - 9:51
- "Raw video footage"