Lets Talk: Butterflies by Kacey Musgraves
A few weeks ago after the Grammys happened I was struggling to find healing in music. I was wandering and scrolling endlessly through the Apple Music catalog, and I kept running into the Grammy winners playlist that was curated “jut for me” by apple themselves but I always scrolled right past because I needed something with substance, something that would lift me up while cried and rearranged my inner thoughts about my sadness. Days passed and after not finding success and after being so tired of loathing in my melancholy I finally decided to give that playlist a try. Clicked shuffle first song that comes up is Butterflies by Kacey Musgraves. There I was, in my room, in broad daylight listening to Musgraves recite the first part of her song; I was just coasting never really going anywhere, caught up in a web I was getting kind of used to staying there, but out of the blue I fell for you” and combusted in tears because immediately the song revealed its purpose to me: A song that is about being swept off one’s feet and the regular life meaningless interaction with objects that have no meaning and being disrupted by someone that untangles your wings so that you can fly, so that you can stop coasting, so that you can get rid of the webs that are keeping you down.
Love as a theme, if done incorrectly can feel forced but that’s not the case with Butterflies. Butterflies beautiful bright yearning vocals and instrumentals pull tight on your heartstrings as every breath feels like you have gained someone that has moved the clouds that were blocking the sun for you.
‘Butterflies’ hooks the listener with a drum-off beat just like our hearts when they are in love. The soft vocals for of Musgraves make it so that the listener feels like we have been swept off our feet, slowly floating towards the sky while caressing clouds. Musgraves gives us butterflies and takes us to cloud nine with the unique crunchy sound of her voice makes the listener feel safe. Our heart and mind while on this butterfly high lightly flutter to the beat as her voice orbits and heals our emotional wounds. She untangles the strings on our wings that were tied so that we can fly towards the sun. Musgraves shapes her song to the stages that a caterpillar goes through to grow wings. The first verse of the song gives you the mood that will be carried out it takes the listener back to a time where they were stuck, followed by the chorus which sparks a supernova of emotions that the listener has felt throughout their life. Feeling happy and sad at the same time as the lyrics penetrate your deep memories.
Isntrumentaly the song doesnt have any complex elements that catch the listener by surpeise
