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Butterfly (Crazy Town song)

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Wikipedia article




"'Butterfly'" is a song by American rap rock band Crazy Town. It is based on a sample of "Pretty Little Ditty" from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1989 album 'Mother's Milk', so band members Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith, and John Frusciante are credited as writers. The song was released in October 2000 as the third single from their debut album, 'The Gift of Game'. It gained mainstream popularity after being released physically on February 20, 2001.

"Butterfly" peaked at number one on the US 'Billboard' Hot 100 for two nonconsecutive weeks. Outside of the United States, the song topped the charts in seven countries, including Austria, Denmark, and Norway, and it peaked within the top ten on the charts of several others, including Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Background and composition



Crazy Town did not choose to release "Butterfly" as the first single from 'The Gift of Game'. Guitarist Kraig "Squirrel" Tyler explained: "We knew all along we didn't want to release 'Butterfly' first because we didn't want to be known as the band that does 'Butterfly'. We are looking at this like we want to have a career. That isn't who we are". In describing the song, frontman Shifty Shellshock said: "Well a song like butterfly is a no brainer everyone seems to love that no matter how hard they are, it's very radio friendly, the female audience loves it and at the same time I think we kept our integrity with it, it's not a sell out song it's very real and cool and I like it".

"Butterfly" was described by George Lang of 'the Oklahoman' as a "a deft blend of hip-hop and rock". Alan di Perna of 'Guitar World' magazine noted Crazy Town were predominantly a rap-metal group, with their music containing the "streetwise guitar rage" of the genre combined with "a dash of Eighties alternative melodicism" and declared the song as a "hip-hop flavored ballad" This was echoed by Tim Kenneally of 'Spin' who noted that the band avoided "descending into rap-metal's typical bitch-done-me-wrong jeremiads"; he declared it a sappy hip-hop love song. Michael Steele, a music director of the pop radio station KIIS-FM, noted the song's crossover appeal in an interview in the 'Los Angeles Times', declaring that among rap-rock songs, "Butterfly" was "the one that completely crossed over from the rap-rock genre." 'Spin' labelled "Butterfly" as a "nu metal power ballad" and possibly the biggest love song of the entire genre.

Critical reception



It was named the 34th "Most Awesomely Bad Song Ever" by VH1. It was also rated number 3 on 'Billboard's chart for one-hit wonders of the 2000s, compiled in 2009. 'Spin' named "Butterfly" as the 13th best nu metal song. "Butterfly" was featured in 'Metal Hammer's' "The Top 40 Best Nu Metal Songs Ever Made" list and ranked at #18.

Music video



The song's music video, directed by Honey, shows the band in a fantastical forest full of butterflies. Shifty Shellshock and Epic Mazur sing praises to two women with butterfly wings. At one point in the video, Shifty's star-shaped tattoos fly off into the air.

Track listings



'US 7-inch single'

:A. "Butterfly" 3:37

:B. "Revolving Door" 3:41

'US CD and 12-inch single'

:A1. "Butterfly" (album version) 3:37

:A2. "Butterfly" (Epic remix) 3:50

:A3. "Butterfly" (Extreme mix) 3:24

:B1. "Butterfly" (Jazzy Jim mix) 3:21

:B2. "Butterfly" (instrumental) 3:37

'UK CD single'

# "Butterfly" (clean album version) 3:37

# "Butterfly" (Epic remix) 3:50

# "Darkside" (clean album version) 3:53

# "Darkside" (video CD extra)

'UK cassette single'

# "Butterfly" (clean album version) 3:37

# "Butterfly" (Extreme mix) 3:34

'European CD single'

# "Butterfly" (album version) 3:37

# "Butterfly" (Extreme mix) 3:34

'European maxi-CD single'

# "Butterfly" (album version) 3:37

# "Butterfly" (Extreme mix) 3:34

# "Butterfly" (Epic remix) 3:50

# "Toxic" (explicit album version) 2:48

'Australian CD single'

# "Butterfly" (clean album version) 3:37

# "Butterfly" (Extreme mix) 3:34

# "Butterfly" (Jazzy Jim mix) 3:03

# "Butterfly" (Epic remix) 3:50

# "Only When I'm Drunk" (demo) 3:04

Credits and personnel



Credits are lifted from the US CD single and 'The Gift of Game' album booklet.

'Studios'

* Tracked at Westlake Audio (Los Angeles)

* Mixed at Scream Studios (Burbank, California) and The Mix Room (Los Angeles)

* Mastered at Precision Mastering (Hollywood, California)

'Personnel'

* Shifty Shellshock lyrics and music (as Seth Binzer), vocals

* Bret Mazur lyrics and music, vocals, production

* Anthony Kiedis music ("Pretty Little Ditty")

* Flea music ("Pretty Little Ditty")

* John Frusciante music ("Pretty Little Ditty")

* Chad Smith music ("Pretty Little Ditty")

* Rust Epique guitar

* Trouble Valli guitar

* Faydoedeelay bass

* DJ AM turntables

* James Bradley Jr. drums

* Josh Abraham production, mixing

* Brian Virtue mixing, engineering

* Tom Baker mastering

Charts



Weekly charts



Year-end charts



Decade-end charts



Certifications



Release history



See also



* List of Romanian Top 100 number ones of the 2000s

References




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