The only UK number one for Andy Williams yet it's via a song that but rarely turns up on any 'Greatest Hits' or 'Best Of' sets. Why? Well I'd suggest two reasons. Firstly, 'Butterfly' hails from early in Williams's career, a time pre easy ballads and chunky cardigans where the emerging rock and roll stars were seen as competition. Or at least someone saw it that way - Williams himself sounds far less at ease here than even Guy Mitchell did on his previous foray into the genre and his voice struggles to find purchase amongst the choppy handclap rhythms; every time he tries to settle into his comfort zone the song speeds off from underneath, leaving him chasing shadows in a medium he's singularly ill suited to be dabbling in.Secondly though, I think the song's content itself borders on the questionable; Andy is in love with a flighty woman who won't stay faithful ("You tell me you love me, you say you’ll be true, then you fly around with somebody new"). It's the old story - can't live with her, can't live without her ("I’ve made up my mind to tell you goodbye, but I’m no good without you, you butterfly") so to put an end to her galavanting he decides "I love you so much I know what I’ll do, I’m clipping your wings, your flying is through". Hmmmm. Whether this is metaphorical or whether he actually plans on keeping her chained up barefoot in the kitchen with the occasional pot in the gob to keep her in line isn't clear, but it's tone sits ill with the easy going, romantic persona that Williams was to dine off from the sixties on. With all this in mind then, to be honest, the whole song must be counted as a mistake, a misfire that does nobody any credit. Best leave it lie quietly in its grave.
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