Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta)

"Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta)" (あいのうた, Suwarōteiru Batafurai Ai no Uta, "Love Song") is a song by Chara, released under the name Yen Town Band.[1] It was the lead single from Montage, a concept album released for the Shunji Iwai film Swallowtail Butterfly that also starred Chara. This song was used as the theme song for the film.

"Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta)"
Single by Yen Town Band (Chara)
from the album Montage
B-side"Mama's Alright"
ReleasedJuly 22, 1996 (1996-07-22)
GenreJ-pop
Length4:49
LabelSony Music Japan
Songwriter(s)Chara, Shunji Iwai, Takeshi Kobayashi, Takayo Nagasawa, Bryan Burton-Lewis
Producer(s)Takeshi Kobayashi
Yen Town Band (Chara) singles chronology
"Tiny Tiny Tiny"
(1995)
"Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta)"
(1996)
""Chara no Boogie Shoes" with The 99 1/2"
(1996)

The single debuted at #31 on Oricon's singles charts. Two months later, after the release of the film and album, the single managed to reach #1.[2]

The song was written by Takeshi Kobayashi, in collaboration with Chara and film director Shunji Iwai.

Music video

Chara in the music video.

The music video begins with a long panning shot over a cityscape. It then shows Chara against a farm windmill. It then switches to a junkyard, where Chara and several other people are filtering through rubbish. They eventually find a working piano, which they bring back on the back of a pickup truck. Chara plays the piano as the car drives off. This scene is interspersed with scenes from the movie.

Track listing

Single
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangerLength
1."Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta)"Shunji Iwai, Takeshi Kobayashi, CharaTakeshi KobayashiTakeshi Kobayashi4:49
2."Mama's Alright"Takeshi Kobayashi, Takayo Nagasawa, Bryan Burton-LewisTakeshi KobayashiTakeshi Kobayashi4:11

Chart rankings

Charts (1996) Peak
position
Oricon weekly singles[3] 1
Oricon yearly singles[4] 26
Charts (2010) Peak
position
RIAJ Digital Track Chart Top 100[5] 40
RIAJ Digital Track Chart Top 100[6]
  • Kumi Koda cover
45

Sales

Chart Amount
Oricon physical sales[4] 878,000

Cover versions

gollark: Just say that you don't speak Japanese and only know English... in Spanish.
gollark: I would directly message you a link, <@341618941317349376>, but you BLOCKINATED me.
gollark: πrat
gollark: It's apparently partly available on Netflix, but they cut out some seasons and episodes at random.
gollark: I... actually just pirate them because to get the full show in the UK you would otherwise have to... buy the DVDs or something?

References

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