"Sleeps with Butterflies" is a song written and recorded by Tori Amos. It served as the first single from her album ''

The Beekeeper ''The Beekeeper'' is the eighth studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It deals with the topics of death, adultery and romantic conflict, and makes brief reference to ancient Gnostic mysticism from the ''Apocryphon of John''. Sonically, ...

''. As was the case with most of her singles from ''

Scarlet's Walk ''Scarlet's Walk'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter and pianist Tori Amos. It was released on October 28, 2002 in the UK and October 29 in the US on Epic Records, making it her first release on the label after her split wi ...

'', this single was released as a digital download only, although a promo CD single was produced for radio stations. The song appeared on radio stations in the United States beginning January 10, 2005, and was available as a digital download on January 12. The song reached number two on the ''

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

'' Triple A National Airplay chart for the week of March 18.

Personnel

*Tori Amos – acoustic piano, vocals,

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

*Matt Chamberlin –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Jon Evans –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

*Mac Aladdin – acoustic and electric guitar

Music video

The music video for "Sleeps with Butterflies" was directed by Laurent Briet, who has also worked with

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The concepts used by Briet in his music videos are largely influenced by illustrators; his interpretation of the video for "Sleeps with Butterflies" attests to that with the closing shot of the video stating that the video was inspired by the work of Aya Kato, a Japanese artist whose style fuses dark

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

with Japanese Pop art. For the "Sleeps with Butterflies" video, Amos remains mostly stationary, standing, sitting, or lying down, and Kato's work was digitally recreated around Amos, incorporating her as the subject of each frame.

Charts

Performances

With her world tour not commencing until April, Amos embarked on a lengthy television and radio promotional tour for ''

'' upon its release, during which she performed the song, either solo or with her band, on numerous occasions: *''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'' on February 17, 2005; *'' Weekend Today'', along with "Baker, Baker" from her 1994 album ''

Under the Pink ''Under the Pink'' is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Upon its release in January 1994, the album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart on the back of the hit single "Cornflake Girl", and peaked at number 12 in the US. The alb ...

'', on February 18; *'' Live With Regis and Kelly'' on February 22; *'' Last Call with Carson Daly'', along with "The Power of Orange Knickers", on March 1; *'' The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' with her band on March 15; *'' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' on March 15 (although it was not aired until May 11); *'' The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' on April 21. Amos recorded a performance of "Sleeps with Butterflies" which was included in the Exclusive Session EP exclusively available through

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. Despite its status as lead single from the album, extensive promotion and the track's success on radio, ''Sleeps With Butterflies'' was barely played live during Amos' subsequent touring. The song was on the setlist for only 8 of a total 81 concerts on the Original Sinsuality Tour in 2005.

References

2005 singles Tori Amos songs Songs written by Tori Amos 2004 songs 2000s ballads Epic Records singles {{2000s-US-single-stub