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Butterfly Collector Lyrics

So you finally got what you wanted
You've achieved your aim by making me walk in line

When you just can't get any higher
You've used your senses to suss out this week's climber

And the small fame that you've acquired
Has brought you into cult status but to me you're still a collector

There's tarts and whores but you're much more
You're a different kind 'cause you want their minds
And you just don't care 'cause you've got no pride
It's just a face on your pillowcase
That thrills you

And you started looking much older
And your fashion sense is second rate like your perfume

But to you in your little dream world
You're still the queen of the butterfly collectors

As you carry on 'cause it's all you know
You can't light a fire, you can't cook or sew
You go from day to day by filling your head
But you surely must know the appeal between your legs
Has worn off

And I don't care about morals
'Cause the word's insane and we're all to blame anyway

And I don't feel any sorrow
Towards the Queens and Kings of the butterfly collectors

There's tarts and whores but you're much more
You're a different kind 'cause you want their mindw
And you just don't care 'cause you've got no pride
He's just a face on your pillowcase
That thrills you

You carry on 'cause it's all you know
You can't light a fire, you can't cook or sew
You go from day to day filling your head
But you surely must know the appeal between your legs
Has worn off

And I don't feel any sorrow
Towards the Kings and Queens of the butterfly collectors
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Cover art for Butterfly Collector lyrics by Garbage

i think this song is definitely about shirley...if u read and know her life story. I mean, look, she sings about a girl or a woman who wanted to be something bigger in life,, or a queen , how she poses it. She wanted to be smarter, but she turned out to be a second class whore probably, who sleeps with her lover, and its all she probably has in her life, that gives her some kind of satisfaction. She cant do anything in life,,,but she really wanted to be something...she could not make it. it is definitely sad.

Cover art for Butterfly Collector lyrics by Garbage

Actually, this song is a cover, so I highly doubt that it's about Shirley. The song was originally performed by The Jam.

Cover art for Butterfly Collector lyrics by Garbage

wow, very interesting Riko... totally didn't know this was a cover and have really tried to figure this song out but i love it anyways

Cover art for Butterfly Collector lyrics by Garbage

Well i heard it and had to think of a book I once read by John Fowles: The Collector. For me it absolutely fits the protagonist..dunno maybe it's just a coincidence...anyone know the book?

Cover art for Butterfly Collector lyrics by Garbage

The song "Butterfly Collector" is a B-Side Song by the group "The Jam". It's about a particular breed of groupies/starfuckers: the type that, besides making their living seducing musicians via trading sex for financial support, try and use sex to gain a considerable amount of psychological control over the famous people they sleep with. They just don't just fuck for fame and money, they fuck for power they have over their prey, to the point that they can use their sexuality to get the famous person to do whatever they want. But in the end, as soon as someone new and even more famous comes along, the "butterfly collector" will dump their current lover for another famous lover. The whole "notch on the bedpost" thing taken to it's most extreme: seduce someone, make them do anything you want, but dump them for another famous person because the butterfly collector only gets off on controlling and seducing rich people. And each man (or woman) they seduce and dump becomes a "butterfly" in their "collection" of past lovers.

Of course, the song does seem to indicate that the "butterfly collector" in particular that the song is about, is fast reaching the point where karma is now catching up to her: the starfucker is getting older, she's no longer attractive and her sexy clothing and sexy perfume is now considered to be "second rate" by the men she is attempting to seduce as her thralls. Furthermore, as her looks (her only asset) fade, she has no life skill training: can't cook her own meals, can't sew; all she knows how to do is seduce and have sex with men. And even that is failing her these days as she gets older and less attractive.

However, she's in denial and moreso, because her starfucking has given her a level of minor "cult" fame, she still sees herself as a big shot, someone who is still at the top of her game as the "Queen of the butterfly collectors".

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