Songs that describe butterflies have many different meanings. Butterflies are so delicate and beautiful that some songs state their other characteristics in detail.
Songs about butterflies have been made for at least three centuries in the entire world, and there are many kinds of songs that make people feel happy. Here is a list of the 21 best songs about Butterflies from different categories.
Best Songs About Butterflies
“Butterflies” – Zendaya
This song is a slow R&B song with a guitar in the background. This song is about the way a person is developing feelings. The singer describes being attracted to someone and describes them as “butterflies.” She then expresses how she doesn’t want her feelings to go away, describing her as “floating in the air like butterflies.” Zendaya sings with a lot of emotion, making the song more interesting. The lyrics are intense, describing how she wants to be close to this person all the time.
“Butterfly” – Mariah Carey
This song is a light, pop song with a lot of emotion. She sings about how someone took her heart and compared it to being “butterfly-caught in a net.” Later in the song, she sings about how she will always love this person no matter what happens. Mariah Carey’s voice is high-pitched and full of emotion in this song, giving it an interesting touch. The lyrics are profound and emotional, making the song very catchy.
“Bad Kind Of Butterflies” – Camila Cabello
This song is a medium-tempo song with a guitar, drum, and organ playing in the background. Camilla Cabello sings at a medium tempo through most of the music, singing about her bad luck with people who don’t understand her. Later in the song, she sings about how it’s hard for her to be around these people who make her feel bad. This song is interesting because it’s not slow like some other songs about butterflies. It has a lot of emotion and feeling, making you want to listen to more of her songs.
“Butterflies” – Alicia Keys
This is a slow, mellow song with a piano in the background. Alicia Keys sings about how she feels like she’s been blinded by her emotions, and she doesn’t know what to do about it.
Later in the song, she sings about being around these special people that make her feel good. She says these people are like butterflies and “flutter around me until I can’t see which way I’m going anymore, and then they just fly away.” This song is very catchy and exciting, becoming more enjoyable with every listen.
“Butterfly Effect” – Travis Scott
This song is a slow song with drums, a light guitar, and vocal effects in the background. Travis Scott sings about how he can tell someone’s feelings for him, even when they are trying to hide it.
Later in the song, he sings about how he has feelings for someone, but Travis Scott doesn’t know what to say because he’s afraid of getting in trouble. Travis Scott has an engaging voice that draws you into the song, making it more enjoyable. The lyrics are intense and meaningful, making the song one of his better ones.
“Butterflies” – Michael Jackson
This song is a slow R&B song with many instruments playing in the background. MJ sings about how he’s been in love with someone for many years and thinks that this person will always be with him no matter what happens.
Later in the song, he sings about being careful around him because he feels as strong as a butterfly. Michael Jackson’s voice puts you ultimately into his world, making it very interesting to listen through. The lyrics are deep and meaningful, making you want to listen to more of his songs after hearing this one.
“Butterfly Fly Away” – Miley Cyrus feat. Billy Ray Cyrus
This song is a slow, country song with many instruments in the background. Miley Cyrus sings about how she feels like she’s being fooled by this person, who tells her, “butterfly, fly away.” She says she knows that this person is just lying to her to get her to leave him alone.
Later on in the song, Miley switches the lyrics around and says that no matter what happens or what he tries to do, she will always be there for him because “I’ll always be there for you, no matter what you try to do.” This song is exciting because it shows how much emotion Miley can put into these songs when they are slower.
“Butterflies” – Kacey Musgraves
This song is a medium-tempo country song with many instruments in the background. Kacey Musgraves sings at a plodding tempo through most of the music, saying she thinks about this guy every day. She describes him as being like butterflies flying around her and how much she wants to see them fly away. The lyrics are intense and meaningful, making it enjoyable to listen to for an entire song instead of one verse at a time.
“Butterfly” – Crazy Town
Simply put, “Butterfly” is a love song. Although no names are named, it was written to Crazy Town’s lead singer’s (then) girlfriend. We know this since she was the one who prompted him to write the song after becoming tired of his hard-rock habits. In fact, the singer refers to her as his “butterfly,” which is based on the fact that she used to be a butterfly collector.
This song isn’t what you’d call a family-oriented love ballad, despite the innocent-sounding title.
“Butterfly” – Smile
This song is a fast, fun song with many instruments playing in the background. This song is catchy and exciting because it has fun lyrics and sounds that you can almost sing along. This song supposedly has no meaning behind it, but when you read the lyrics, you find out that this person’s friend who had recently passed away is mentioned. This heartwarming sound brings a nice touch to this great song.
“The Butterfly Song” – CJ and Friends
Sometimes called the “If I Were A Butterfly” song, “The Butterfly Song” is a popular children’s song about butterflies.
It playfully reminds children that they all have unique gifts and to appreciate them. It began life as a Gospel song, and while it’s still sometimes used in that context, you’re more likely to hear it around a campfire than in church these days.
“The Butterfly Waltz” – Brian Crain
Charles de Janon wrote “The Butterfly Waltz” in 1884. It’s an old song about butterflies, but it’s a beautiful one.
Here the lightness of the violin echoes the dancing, darting movement of a butterfly. Underneath it, the piano plays a series of luxurious and slow chords. Like the violin, they recall the graceful and elegant motions of a butterfly.
But occasionally, the piano line ripples and imitates the flowers that bob at butterflies on breezy spring afternoons.
“Poor Butterfly” – Sarah Vaughan
This popular jazz song about butterflies by Raymond Hubbell was composed in 1916. It takes inspiration from composer Giacomo Puccini’s famous opera, “Madama Butterfly.”
Perhaps the most popular recording appeared in 1917, sung by Elsie Baker under the pseudonym Edna Brown.
But it became a jazz staple for many other singers, Sarah Vaughan among them. Her rich, warm contralto lends the song a rare feeling and poignancy.
“La Papillion et La Fleur” – Veronique Gens
Here’s another old but beautiful song about butterflies.
Sung in French by Veronique Gens, the lyrics for this piece come from a poem by Victor Hugo. Gabriel Faure put the poem to music as part of a song cycle.
In the poem, a downtrodden flower speaks with a butterfly about how fleeting love, life, and beauty are. Faure’s arrangement contrasts the long, sustained phrase with shorter, jauntier ones. He underscores it with a piano accompaniment that ripples and sparkles.
It’s playful, poignant, and a textbook example of beautiful music.
“Butterflies” – Max & Alie Gatie
Sometimes when pop songs about butterflies reference these beautiful insects, they’re speaking metaphorically. Max & Alie Gatie’s song ‘Butterflies’ is an excellent example.
In this song, the butterflies symbolize the nervous excitement we experience around people we care for.
Reflecting those feelings, the song has an upbeat tambour and a jaunty rhythm. The artists also play with stresses, tucking triplets and grace notes into the music. It gives it rhythmic variety but also acts as a word painting for the sensation of a racing heart.
“Butterflies” – Gabbie Hana
Gabbie Hanna’s song ‘Butterflies’ is about a romantic relationship gone wrong. Like some of the other songs about butterflies on this list, these butterflies are metaphorical. They come from the nervous energy we associate with feelings of unease.
Despite this, Hanna’s pop song about butterflies has an optimistic feel. Pay attention to the strong emphasis on beats one and three of each bar and the lyrics.
These may be nervous butterflies, but the speaker can still find things to appreciate in the world around them.
“Love Is Like a Butterfly” – Dolly Parton
This 70s butterfly song was written and released by American country singer Dolly Parton in 1974.
The song was wildly popular, so much so that Parton briefly used it as the theme to her show, “Dolly!”
Later, Clare Torry performed a cover of the song, and Parton collaborated with Stephen Colbert on a duet arrangement.
“Butterfly Boys” – Procol Harum
“Butterfly Boys” is another 70s butterfly song. Despite the whimsical title, the lyrics take a savage dig at record companies that monopolized record proceeds.
The title comes from the logo of Procol Harum’s record company, which prominently featured a butterfly.
“Black Butterfly” – Duke Ellington
This jazzy song about butterflies, or at least with butterflies in the title, was written by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills in 1936.
While it never enjoyed the same status as other Ellington numbers, it was still a popular jazz standard in its day. As played by Ellington and his orchestra in 1946, the song is a brassy, lilting number full of energy.
The piano is warm, and so are the chords. They’re full of rich and complex harmonies, and as the music slows down, the instruments can sink into them and mine them for tone. The result is a composition as delicate as butterfly wings that showcases some excellent improvisations by the soloists.
“Butterflies” – Queen Naija
Singer-songwriter Queen Naija composed ‘Butterflies’ shortly after meeting her partner Clarence White.
Her previous romantic experiences had ended badly, but rather than focus on that, “Butterflies” is about the excitement of new love and the chemistry two people can share.
“Paru-Parong Bukid” – Mabuhay Singers
Finally, “Paru-Parong Bukid,” or “The Field Butterfly Song” (English), is a Filipino folk song.
The Tagalog lyrics are whimsical. They playfully compare a beautiful woman to a butterfly, with elaborately long sleeves, hair accessories, and a skirt that swishes.
It’s a song about butterflies with a long history and goes back to the 1890s. Composed during the American invasion of the Philippines, the song’s original lyrics were Spanish.
But the Spanish version, ‘Mariposa Bella,’ became eclipsed by the Tagalog reimagining of the song. In 1938, it debuted as part of the soundtrack to a film.
Final Thoughts
Butterflies are a profound subject, and everyone can relate to it somehow. The lyrics are all intense, and you can tell that these writers had a lot of feeling behind what they were singing about. I found myself listening to these songs repeatedly because they were so exciting and unique. Songs about running away are pretty standard, but it’s different to hear songs about butterflies.
Born and raised in Austin, David is a dedicated writer and avid fragrance lover. When he's not trying out perfumes, he enjoys traveling and exploring new restaurants.