"Butterflies and Hurricanes" is a song by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

. It was released as the sixth and final single from their third studio album, ''

Absolution Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the pra ...

'' (2003), on 20 September 2004. Unlike ''Absolution'', the single was released through

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. The song was one of two songs recorded with a studio orchestra during the initial stages of production. It is also notable for its

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

-esque piano interlude. The title and theme were mainly inspired by the butterfly effect of

chaos theory Chaos theory is an interdisciplinary area of scientific study and branch of mathematics focused on underlying patterns and deterministic laws of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, and were once thought to have co ...

. The theory describes how even the smallest of changes in present conditions, like the flapping of a butterfly's wings, can cause a

chain reaction A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events. Chain reactions are one way that syst ...

and have a significant effect in the future, like a hurricane. The song was also dedicated to

Dominic Howard Dominic James Howard (born 7 December 1977) is an English musician who is the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Muse. Early life Howard was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with hi ...

's father, who died shortly after the band's performance at the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

Background and composition

Some parts of the song have been around at least as early as 1999.

Matt Bellamy Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English singer, musician, producer, and songwriter. He is primarily known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for English rock band Muse. He is recognised for his eccen ...

had suggested a piece featuring the band and an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

playing over a "mechanical

paradiddle In ''rudimental drumming'', a form of percussion music, a drum rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drumming patterns. The term "drum rudiment" is most closely assoc ...

" to

Dom Howard Dominic James Howard (born 7 December 1977) is an English musician who is the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Muse. Early life Howard was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with h ...

, the band's drummer. According to Bellamy the song really took shape when he spent a few hours fiddling around on a

Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to the opening of a ...

piano he found at a hotel he was staying in: Matthew Bellamy also declared about the 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".

Recording

There are several versions of "Butterflies and Hurricanes". For the original studio recording, the song's introduction, verse and choruses were

harmonically In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However, ...

driven by piano and

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

. The single version contains both guitar and keyboard, but the interlude is slightly shorter, reducing the song from 5:01 to 4:48. The vinyl single includes a full-length version with guitars in the mix. Finally, the

radio edit In music, a radio edit or radio mix is a modification, typically truncated or censored, intended to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form. Radio edits may als ...

of the single goes further by omitting the entire piano interlude, bringing the song down to 4:10.

Live

The song was reworked with a more prominent electric guitar sound during the Absolution tour, including some extended guitar solos before the piano interlude (and a bass fill to segue Matt Bellamy's transition from guitar to the piano). This version was also performed live during the

Black Holes and Revelations ''Black Holes and Revelations'' is the fourth studio album by English rock band Muse, first released on 3 July 2006 through Warner Bros. Records and Muse's Helium-3 imprint. It was recorded over four months with producer Rich Costey in New Y ...

tour, and can be heard in the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

concerts. The song was played at most shows from 2003 to 2008, and made occasional appearances during

The Resistance Tour The Resistance Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English alternative rock band Muse in support of their fifth studio album '' The Resistance''. The opening European leg began on 22 October 2009 and ended on 4 December 2009, comprising 30 show ...

The 2nd Law Tour The 2nd Law World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English alternative rock band Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of lit ...

, and the

Drones World Tour The Drones World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the English Rock music, rock band Muse (band), Muse. Staged in support of the band's 2015 album ''Drones (Muse album), Drones'', the tour visited arenas and festivals throughout 2015 and is ...

. The song has not been performed since 2017.

Music video

The music comprises stock footage of the band playing "Butterflies and Hurricanes" at different venues during their ''Absolution'' tour with some effects added, and images of the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

serving as the main backdrop.

Media

The song has also been featured in several BBC sports programmes. Most notably an orchestral version of the song was used as the main theme for the BBC's Sports Personality of the year award back in 2005, and also on the BBC's 2010

Six Nations championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

coverage. This song is also featured in the introduction sequence of the 2012 video game ''Need For Speed Most Wanted''.

Track listing

CD

#"Butterflies and Hurricanes" (Remix With Additional Guitars Full Length) – 5:02 #" Sing for Absolution" (Live Acoustic Radio 2) – 4:28

Clear Vinyl 7"

#"Butterflies and Hurricanes" (full length) – 5:01 #"Butterflies and Hurricanes" (

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

2004)

DVD

#"Butterflies and Hurricanes" – 4:48 #"Butterflies and Hurricanes video" – 4:48 #"The Groove in the States video" – 9:51 #"Raw video footage"

Promo CD

#"Butterflies and Hurricanes" (radio edit) – 4:10 #"Butterflies and Hurricanes"

Charts

References

{{authority control Muse (band) songs 2004 singles 2003 songs Science fiction music Mushroom Records singles Rock ballads Songs written by Matt Bellamy Songs written by Dominic Howard Songs written by Chris Wolstenholme