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Yesterday I went outside
With my momma's mason jar
Caught a lovely Butterfly
When I woke up today
And looked in on my fairy pet
She had withered all away
No more sighing in her breast
I'm sorry for what I did
I did what my body told me to
I didn't mean to do you harm
But everytime I pin down what I think I want
It slips away - the ghost slips away
I smell you on my hand for days
I can't wash away your scent
If I'm a dog then you're a bitch
I guess you're as real as me
Maybe I can live with that
Maybe I need fantasy
A life of chasing Butterfly
I told you I would return
When the robin makes his nest
But I ain't never comin' back
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry
With my momma's mason jar
Caught a lovely Butterfly
When I woke up today
And looked in on my fairy pet
She had withered all away
No more sighing in her breast
I'm sorry for what I did
I did what my body told me to
I didn't mean to do you harm
But everytime I pin down what I think I want
It slips away - the ghost slips away
I smell you on my hand for days
I can't wash away your scent
If I'm a dog then you're a bitch
I guess you're as real as me
Maybe I can live with that
Maybe I need fantasy
A life of chasing Butterfly
I told you I would return
When the robin makes his nest
But I ain't never comin' back
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry
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"She had withered all away" and "i'm sorry for what i did" refer to when Pinkerton leaves butterfly soon after they consummate their marriage and does not return for 3 years. In this time Butterfly waits for him in complete devotion. She took their marriage very seriously whereas he was using her and careless about the commitment. The "i'm sorry for what i did" refers to when Pinkerton does finally return but with his new american wife. He sees how devoted Butterfly has been and realizes his cruelty. His ultimate remorse comes when Butterfly commits suicide when she realizes that he no longer loves her and is taking away her child with him.
"Everytime i pin down what i want it slips away" also refers to a line in the opera where butterfly tells pinkerton that she heard that in america they pin butterflys to boards and it scares her.He replies that they only do this to hold onto the butterflys beauty.
Finally, "I told you I would return, when the robin makes his nest, but i ain't never comin' back, i'm sorry , im sorry im sorry." Is the most direct reference to Madama Butterfly in the song. Before Pinkerton leaves, he tells butterfly that he will return when robins make their nest. She has hoped for that day for years but the time has come and gone. She even asks Sharpless(an american consul) if robins make their nest at a different time in america because she refuses to give up hope.
In conclusion, I would say that this song has to do with taking advantage of something beautiful and pure. He uses her body for his pleasure and then leaves her to wither and die. He didn't realize how much she loved him and when he makes this realization it is too late. The harm has been done and he can only say he's sorry.
So yeah, I can definitely identify with this song.
This song is about blindly wanting something so badly and not thinking about the consequences that come with wanting that one thing. It's about not really being sure of what you want, and as a consequence not having realistic expectations for when you finally get what you want. This line really sums up the meaning of the song, for me anyway:
"Everytime I pin down what I think I want
It slips away"
The butterfly is clearly a symbol for a girl that he is in love with. They finally get together, but Rivers realizes that they just aren't right together. And as much as it pains him, he has to let her go, for her own sake and his own.
I relate to this song a lot. I never really know what it is that I want in relationships. And when I am in one, I find that what I have gotten myself into is never as good as it seemed at first blush. I've come to the conclusion that, if you don't know what you want, then you will never be happy, especially in love and relationships.
Anyway, I think it is great that Rivers, and Weezer, were able to put such a complex thought/emotion into what is overall a very basic, stripped down song. It's the simplicity of the song that makes it so moving. Underneath that guitar and the slow and steady drumbeat towards the end, there is a very real feeling that we all experience at one time or another. It's a lot to think about, and I love it.
I also don't believe this was written about a singular person/relationship. "Chasing Butterfly" suggests the plural (and is also a rather dirty way of expressing what he's chasing after). He likely used the opera's conclusion and applied it as a theme to the last two years of his bizzaro rock star/disabled hermit life.
"I guess you're as real as me
Maybe I can live with that
Maybe I need fantasy
Life of chasing butterfly"
I like pieceustogether's explanation, though...
This song is not remotely about rape or coerced sex. It's about a relationship where the girl is truly in love with the guy, and the guy really only wanted a physical relationship, but comes to feel bad about it afterwards. As is mentioned a million times throughout these comments, this song and most of the album Pinkerton contain references to Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly: the main character is named B.F. Pinkerton, and the leading female is Cio-Cio San (i.e. "listening to Cio-Cio San, fall in love all over again" from "El Scorcho").
In Madame Butterfly, Pinkerton is a Naval officer stationed in Japan who is infatuated with Cio-Cio San (a.k.a. Butterfly) and marries her, claiming that "throughout the world, the Yankee wanderer is not satisfied until he captures the flowers of every shore and the love of every beautiful woman." Cio-Cio San truly falls in love with Pinkerton who, after marrying her and sleeping with her, has to leave her to continue his Naval expeditions, but promises to "return with the roses, when the earth is full of joy, when the robin makes his nest" (recognize that last line?) i.e. spring.
Cio-Cio San has Pinkerton's child and waits 3 years for him to return, becoming impoverished but always hopeful that Pinkerton will return, despite being told that foreign husbands never return to their wives and only marry them to have someone to have sex with while they are in Japan. Cio-Cio San does not believe this until the American consul shows her a letter in which Pinkerton reveals that he assumes that Cio-Cio San would not even remember him, meaning his view of the relationship was extremely casual while hers was so intimate. She has Pinkerton informed by letter that she has his child, thinking he will return when he hears this news.
Pinkerton does return, but he returns with his American wife to take his child, and though he feels extreme remorse and even affection towards Cio-Cio San, he does not love her in the way she loves him. She gives up her child to him and commits suicide at the end of the play while Pinkerton weeps her name.
When Rivers saw this opera for the first time, he wept uncontrollably--presumably because he related very deeply to the story, although it is extremely sad and beautiful and I wept the first time I saw it even though I cannot relate to it in that way. This song is about sleeping with someone because you are infatuated with them ("I did what my body told me to") and hurting them very deeply when you leave them because they love you in a way you do not love them and you took advantage of that, perhaps even unintentionally.
It's not about rape. Give it up.