Released 2005 Length 3:35 | Recorded 2004 Label Epic, Sony BMG | |
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Format Promo CD single, digital download Genre Baroque pop, piano rock | ||
"Sleeps with Butterflies" is a song written and recorded by Tori Amos. It served as the first single from her album The Beekeeper. As was the case with most of her singles from Scarlet's Walk, this single was released as a digital download only, although a promo CD single was produced for radio stations. The song appeared on radio stations in the United States beginning January 10, 2005, and was available as a digital download on January 12.
Contents
The song reached number two on the Radio & Records Triple A National Airplay chart for the week of March 18.
Personnel
Music video
The music video for "Sleeps with Butterflies" was directed by Laurent Briet, who has also worked with Radiohead and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The concepts used by Briet in his music videos are largely influenced by illustrators; his interpretation of the video for "Sleeps with Butterflies" attests to that with the closing shot of the video stating that the video was inspired by the work of Aya Kato, a Japanese artist whose style fuses dark Art Nouveau with Japanese Pop art.
For the "Sleeps with Butterflies" video, Amos remains mostly stationary, standing, sitting, or lying down, and Kato's work was digitally recreated around Amos, incorporating her as the subject of each frame.
Performances
With her world tour not commencing until April, Amos embarked on a lengthy television and radio promotional tour for The Beekeeper upon its release, during which she performed the song, either solo or with her band, on numerous occasions:
Amos recorded a performance of "Sleeps with Butterflies" which was included in the Exclusive Session EP exclusively available through iTunes.
Despite its status as lead single from the album, extensive promotion and the track's success on radio, Sleeps With Butterflies was barely played live during Amos' subsequent touring. The song was on the setlist for only 8 of a total 81 concerts on the Original Sinsuality Tour in 2005, and Amos has never played it live since.