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Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta)

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"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)

"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.

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

[edit]
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

[edit]
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

[edit]
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] 45

Sales

[edit]
Chart Amount
Oricon physical sales[4] 878,000

Cover versions

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Sony Music Online Japan : Yen Town Band : Swallowtail Butterfly~あいのうた~". Retrieved 2009-11-08.
  2. ^ "Swallowtail Butterfly~あいのうた~". Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  3. ^ "Swallowtail Butterfly~あいのうた~ - YEN TOWN BAND/ オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  4. ^ a b "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. Retrieved 2010-10-22. (subscription only)
  5. ^ "レコード協会調べ 2010年07月07日~2010年07月13日 <略称:レコ協チャート(「着うたフル(R)」)>" (in Japanese). RIAJ. 2009-07-16. Archived from the original on 2012-03-11. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  6. ^ "レコード協会調べ 2010年10月13日~2010年10月19日 <略称:レコ協チャート(「着うたフル(R)」)>" (in Japanese). RIAJ. 2009-10-22. Archived from the original on 2012-03-11. Retrieved 2010-10-20.