The Butterfly Graveyard “St Francis ( Had a Wife Of Snow)”

Delicate and delicious, Irish alt-rock artist The Butterfly Graveyard is located somewhere between The Blue Nile, Jeff Buckley and the deep blue sea. He makes a fragile music, soft as a butterfly’s wing but sometimes rough and uneven like the underbelly of a leaf, translucent when held up under the light.

The original inspiration for this song came from a medieval Italian folktale, based on the legend of St. Francis of Assisi. The story goes that St. Francis and Santa Chiara were spending a bit too much time in each other’s company, so much so that it became the subject of gossip and rumour among the townsfolk. To put an end to these rumours, St. Francis felt he had to take the drastic step of cutting off all ties with Santa Chiara. So, on a bitterly cold mid-winter’s day with the snow heavy on the ground, St. Francis told Santa Chiara they had to part ways and would never meet again.

Santa Chiara walked away with a heavy heart through the snow when suddenly St. Francis called out to her and said, I promise you when red roses bloom in the deep winter snow we will meet again and no more shall we part.

Again, Santa Chiara turned away and walked into the snowy mountains, thinking such a thing could never happen. As Santa Chiara reached the top of the mountain, she turned to look back one last time at St. Francis. To her delight and surprise the valley bellow was covered in red roses blooming in the white winter snow. From that day St. Francis and Santa Chiara were never to part again. And this winter’s tale tells us that love will always find a way.

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