Happiness Is a Butterfly (song)

Lana Del Rey
Writer(s)	Lana Del Rey Jack Antonoff Rick Nowels
Producer(s)	Jack Antonoff Rick Nowels Lana Del Rey
Recorded	February–March 2018
Length	4:32
From
Single(s)	"Mariners Apartment Complex" "Venice Bitch" "Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman like Me to Have – but I Have It" "Doin' Time" "The Greatest" / "Fuck It I Love You"
Norman Fucking Rockwell track listing
"Bartender"
"Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman like Me to Have – but I Have It"

"Happiness Is a Butterfly" (stylized in sentence case) is a song by Lana Del Rey. It was recorded in early 2018 and is featured on her sixth studio album, Norman Fucking Rockwell!.

Background

Del Rey first teased the lyrics of the song on March 5, 2018. She posted a snippet of the song on March 29, 2018 to her Instagram profile. After a while, she deleted the snippet from her Instagram profile. On September 11, 2018, the snippet was unarchived and was again available on her profile.

On October 6, 2018, Del Rey posted another snippet of the song on her Instagram profile, but was later archived. As of November 12, 2018, it has been restored. Del Rey shared an extended snippet on January 11, 2019 on Instagram.

On July 30, 2019, Shazam identified the song.

Live performances

On October 2, 2019, Del Rey performed an a cappella version of the song per audience request during the Norman Fucking Rockwell Tour at WaMu Theater, in Seattle, Washington.

Music video

Music video	Information
	Released	December 20, 2019
	Length	14:06
	Director	Chuck Grant
	Producer	Chuck Grant, Lana Del Rey
	Filmed	April 2018
	Location	Los Angeles, California
	Vevo views	10+ Million views

Background and description

On January 11, 2019, Del Rey posted a snippet of the songs official music video on Instagram. It stars backup dancers Ashley Rodriguez and Alexandria Kaye, and was shot and directed by Chuck Grant. Del Rey revealed the track would form part of a 3-part music video with "Norman Fucking Rockwell" and "Bartender" on September 3, 2019. It was originally scheduled to be released in October 2019.

Several scenes from this part of the video were first interpolated in the music videos for "Mariners Apartment Complex" and "Venice Bitch".

Cross-references

• Getting high is a theme of many songs, such as "Born to Die", "High by the Beach" and "Us Against the World".
• Direct reference to "Serial Killer".
• The canyon and Del Rey's truck are both mentioned in "Bartender" as well.
• Being crazy is referred to in many of Del Rey's songs such as "Cruel World" and "Ride".
• Being hurt is also a theme relevant in many songs such as "Ultraviolence" and "Body Electric".
• Hollywood and Vine is also mentioned in "Burning Desire" and "Every Man Gets His Wish".
• The phrase "I'll pick you up" also appears in "California".
• Lightning is also mentioned in "Mariners Apartment Complex", "Carmen", "Blue Banisters" and "White Mustang".
• Lullabies are also mentioned in "Big Eyes".
• A bar is also mentioned in "Video Games", "Groupie Love", "Bartender", "For K (Part 2)", and "Oh Say Can You See".
• The song title is a direct reference to the famous quote "Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp" falsely attributed to both Nathaniel Hawtorne and Henry David Thoreau.

Official versions

• Album version — 4:32
  • Instrumental version — 4:31

Lyrics

Do you want me or do you not?
I heard one thing, now I’m hearing another
Dropped a pin to my parking spot
The bar was hot, it's 2AM, it feels like summer

Happiness is a butterfly
Try to catch it like every night
It escapes from my hands into moonlight
Everyday is a lullaby
I hum it on the phone, like every night
And sing it for my babies on the tour life
Ah-ah

If he's a serial killer then what's the worst
That could happen to a girl, who's already hurt?
I'm already hurt
If he's as bad as they say, then I guess I'm cursed
Looking into his eyes, I think he's already hurt
He's already hurt

I said, "Don't be a jerk, don't call me a taxi"
Sitting in your sweatshirt, crying in the backseat
Ooh, I just wanna dance with you
Hollywood and Vine, Black Rabbit in the alley
I just wanna hold you tight down the avenue
Ooh, I just wanna dance with you
I just wanna dance with you

Baby, I just wanna dance with you
(Dance, dance)
Baby, I just wanna dance with you
(Dance)

Left the canyon, drove to the club
I was one thing, now I'm being another
Go down to Sunset in my truck
I'll pick you up if you're in town on the corner
Ah-ah

Happiness is a butterfly
We should catch it while dancing
I lose myself in the music, baby
Everyday is a lullaby
Try to catch it like lightning
I sing it into my music, I'm crazy

If he's a serial killer then what's the worst
That could happen to a girl, who's already hurt?
I'm already hurt
If he's as bad as they say, then I guess I'm cursed
Looking into his eyes, I think he's already hurt
He's already hurt

I said, "Don't be a jerk, don't call me a taxi"
Sitting in your sweatshirt, crying in the backseat
Ooh, I just wanna dance with you
Hollywood and Vine, Black Rabbit in the alley
I just wanna hold you tight down the avenue
Ooh, I just wanna dance with you
I just wanna dance with you

Baby, I just wanna dance with you
(Dance, dance)
Baby, I just wanna dance with you
(Dance)

Credits

Personnel

• Lana Del Rey — songwriting, production, vocals
• Jack Antonoff — songwriting, production, engineering, mixing, programming, guitar, keyboards, piano
• Rick Nowels — songwriting, additional production
• Laura Sisk — engineering, mixing
• Jonathan Sher — assistant engineering
• Chris Gehringer — mastering
• Will Quinnell — assistant mastering

Technical

• Mastered at Sterling Sound
• Recorded at Conway Recording Studios, Los Angeles, United States / Rough Customer Studio, New York, United States
• Mixed at Rough Customer Studio, New York, United States