Butterflies and Hurricanes

"Butterflies and Hurricanes"
CD cover art by Storm Thorgerson
Single by Muse
from the album Absolution
Released20 September 2004 (2004-09-20)[1]
Recorded2003
StudioAIR (London)
Genre
Length
  • 5:01 (album version)
  • 4:48 (single version)
  • 4:20 (radio edit)
Label
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)Matt Bellamy
Producer(s)
  • John Cornfield
  • Muse
  • Paul Reeve
Muse singles chronology
"Apocalypse Please"
(2004)
"Butterflies and Hurricanes"
(2004)
"Supermassive Black Hole"
(2006)
DVD single
The "Butterflies and Hurricanes" DVD cover.
7" single
The "Butterflies and Hurricanes" 7" cover.

"Butterflies and Hurricanes" is a song by English rock band Muse. It was released as the sixth and final single from their third studio album, Absolution (2003), on 20 September 2004. Unlike Absolution, the single was released through Atlantic Records.

The song was one of two songs recorded with a studio orchestra during the initial stages of production. The title and theme were mainly inspired by the butterfly effect of chaos theory. The theory describes how even the smallest of changes in present conditions, such as the flapping of a butterfly's wings, can cause a chain reaction and have a significant effect in the future, for instance a hurricane. The song was also dedicated to Dominic Howard's father, who died shortly after the band's performance at the Glastonbury Festival.[2]

  1. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 18 September 2004. p. 31.
  2. ^ "Drummer's father dies at festival". BBC News. 29 June 2004.