About
“Don’t Kill The Butterfly” is the first single of my upcoming EP “Rescue Songs”, a community powered and crowdfunded project I recorded in California last year with my wonderful producer Dominic Romano. This first song is a deeply personal one I wrote while I was struggling with depression and self-harm. It’s one of the songs that almost made it onto my “Ocean Inside Of Me” concept album but ended up not fitting perfectly into the narrative. But perhaps that was for the best since the stripped back feeling of this EP plays into the fragility of the song beautifully. And there’s one more reason that now is the best time to tell this songs story, and that is that I’ve grown and healed to a place now where I can talk about it openly.
When I started releasing “Ocean Inside Of Me” I was still new to telling the story of my mental health journey, there was still a lot of fear and shame to overcome every time, especially around the topic of self-harm. Back then I used to tell people that “Don’t Kill The Butterfly” is about holding onto hope and finding it in the fragile beauty of the little things in our present even when life feels heavy. While that is true, it’s also quite vague. The song has a way more literal meaning to me, one I feel comfortable with sharing now. When I was struggling with self-harm I found the butterfly project online, the concept is simple but effective: drawing a butterfly on my skin and letting it fade naturally so it can fly away - but if I hurt myself before it fades the butterfly dies. It might seem simple but this technique helped me keep myself safe many times - and inspired this song. Often these butterflies could be drawn by loved ones and this gave me the idea to make the butterfly the symbol of the song and ask those who supported the EP to draw one in their style. I collected these drawings and edited them together into the final artwork, a fitting symbol for an EP created in such close collaboration with my lovely community.
The recording of this song was really special, getting to work on it in California with Dominic Romano as producer and Harley Eblen on cello was a great experience. I shared the songs story openly with them and together we worked on telling it’s story through the music as well. I had tears in my eyes a couple of times as the song came to life in this context.
Lyrics
In the valley stands a tree
Lightning split in half
At the top a few green leaves
Like a memory from the past
On the river floats a boat
Without a captain nor a crew
The rope didn’t hold
The knot didn’t do
Oh to sing a little bit longer
At the table stands a chair
No one ever sits in
A shirt that no one wears
And a tear under her chin
A painting on the wall
Covered in dust
Of a time they don’t recall
Of a time that didn’t last
Oh to be a little bit stronger
Don’t kill the butterfly
Don’t kill the butterfly
Stay here
Don’t let me live this life
Don’t let me live this life
In fear
Cause I might never take it back
There’s a book on the floor
In the room of broken things
It knows it’s words no more
But it knows it used to sing
Scars on my knees
From when I was small
They are there for me to see
But the day I don’t recall
Oh to feel a little bit younger
Don’t kill the butterfly
Don’t kill the butterfly
Stay here
Don’t let me live this life
Don’t let me live this life
In fear
Cause all we are is now until we disappear
Don’t kill the butterfly
Don’t kill the butterfly
Stay here
Cause you might
My dear
We’re here
My dear
We’re here
Don’t kill the butterfly
Don’t kill the butterfly
Stay here
Don’t let me live this life
Don’t let me live this life
In fear
Cause all we are is now until we disappear
Don’t kill the butterfly
Don’t kill the butterfly
Stay here
Cause you might
What the press says:
The lyrical concept “don’t let me live this life in fear” is so powerful and worth contemplation. These lyrics require multiple listens and I bet even if you listen ten times you’ll still catch something new on the eleventh listen.
Ear To The Ground Music
La música y compositora Luna Keller presenta el sencillo «Don’t Kill The Butterfly». Esta canción brinda a los oyentes una experiencia íntima, cálida y empática, desarrollándose desde la profundidad de la canción de autor y diferentes facetas del folk.
R+
A message flawlessly conveyed through her rich, emotionally-charged vocals which are accompanied by warm cello strings which are nicely intertwined with delicate guitar plucks and rhythms that come together to create such a soothing atmosphere with touches of melancholia and vulnerability that feel like a warm embrace, perfect for a laid-back weekend!
Caesar Live N Loud
What’s particularly striking is how the song builds its narrative through vivid imagery: a lightning-split tree, an empty boat, a dusty painting. These aren’t just poetic devices; they’re carefully chosen symbols that echo the song’s themes of preservation and fragile beauty.
Neon Music
Discover the details!
Available as high quality WAV download and CD
If you are listening through a great audio system, then this is for you! My music is recorded and mastered to the highest level to please the ears of HiFi enthusiasts.
For a HiFi experience you will find an uncompressed version in CD quality on Bandcamp.
Credits
Written by Luna Keller
Produced by Dominic Romano
Cello arrangement by Harley Eblen
Acoustic Guitar and vocals by Luna Keller
Additional Acoustic guitar and electric guitar by Dominic Romano
Mixed by Dominic Romano
Mastered by Sam Moses
