Songoftheday 2/16/23 - All you gotta do is walk away and pass me by, don't acknowledge my smile when I try to say hello to you...

 

 

"Butterflies" - Michael Jackson

from the album Invincible (2001)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #14 (two weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 16

 

Today's song is from Michael Jackson, who had returned to the pop top ten in American with the lead single from his 2001 album Invincible "You Rock My World".  That song, accompanied by a huge-budget epic-style music video, seemed to have floundered, especially given his track record. I think the weight of all the scandal swirling around him paired with such a posturing performance may have turned off all but his die-hard fans, though still reaching the top ten after thirty years is quite an achievement to be proud of. For its follow-up Michael went in a completely different direction, embracing neo-soul on the mid-tempo song "Butterflies". Written by Marsha Ambrosius of the duo Floetry, who who appear eventually in this series, and producer Andre Harris, the song has Jackson sheepishly serenading his love, expressing how he can't believe he's with them and all he wants is them to spend time with him. The "butterflies" involved are the ones in his stomach when he thinks of them. This is over a lush backdrop with jazzy chord changes that Jackson hasn't put on a single (and most similar to the more laid back "Lady Of My Life" from Thriller). His vocals are layered like a scrumptious lasagna, and the result is his best record in years (thanks in part to Marsha and Andre). To make this even more out of place, there was no video shot for this (I suspect that the label blew its wad on "You Rock My World" and after the muted performance balked at another high-cost clip). Nevertheless, the single became a decent hit on R&B radio, making up for the more modest showing on pop stations, allowing the song to make it to the top half of the top-40 without having a commercial single release. It would be Jackson's last top-40 hit on the Hot 100 in Billboard magazine in his lifetime...

"Butterflies" became the second top-40 hit from Invincible on the Hot 100 in January of 2002, while spending five weeks at #2 on Billboard's R&B Songs chart. On the radio, the song got to #36 on both the Mainstream Top-40 and the dance-oriented Rhythmic airplay charts, and #2 on the R&B/Hip-Hop radio list, but its best showing was on the older-skewing Adult R&B format, where spent five weeks at #1. It wasn't released as a single overseas, so never made the charts anywhere else.

Instead, Epic Records released another ballad, "Cry", as the second international single from the record. Written and produced by R. Kelly, the "change the world"-styled single was a moderate success, making the top ten in Spain (#6) and Poland (#9), and hitting the top-40 in Denmark (#16), Romania (#22), the United Kingdom (#25), France (#30), Belgium (#31 Wallonia), and Canada (#33). Back in the States, the album track "Heaven Can Wait", co-written and produced by Teddy Riley, got enough urban radio airplay to spend four months on Billboard's R&B Songs chart with a high of #72.

Michael would die of a drug overdose in 2009, but he will be back to the series. 

(7/10)

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There was a remix done of the track to insert rapper Eve in a cameo...

Here's a clip of Marsha Ambrosius and Floetry performing her song live in concert...

Up tomorrow: This oversized rapper is rollin'.