| Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta) | |
| Cover: | Chara_Swallow.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Yen Town Band (Chara) |
| Album: | Montage |
| B-Side: | Mama's Alright |
| Genre: | J-pop |
| Length: | 4:49 |
| Label: | Sony Music Japan |
| Producer: | Takeshi Kobayashi |
| Prev Title: | Tiny Tiny Tiny |
| Prev Year: | 1995 |
| Next Title: | "Chara no Boogie Shoes" with The 99 1/2 |
| Next Year: | 1996 |
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.
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.
| Charts (1996) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Oricon weekly singles[3] | 1 | |
| Oricon yearly singles | 26 | |
| Charts (2010) | Peak position | |
RIAJ Digital Track Chart Top 100[4]
| 40 | |
RIAJ Digital Track Chart Top 100[5]
| 45 |