Poor Butterfly

"Poor Butterfly"
Introduced in the Broadway show The Big Show
Original sheet music cover
Song by Sophie Bernard
Published	1916
Composer(s)	Raymond Hubbell
Lyricist(s)	John Golden
Language	English

"Poor Butterfly" is a popular song. It was inspired by Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly and contains a brief musical quote from the act 2 duet Tutti i fior in the verse.

The music was written by Raymond Hubbell, the lyrics by John Golden. The song was published in 1916. It was introduced in the Broadway show The Big Show, which opened in August 1916 at the New York Hippodrome, and was sung in the show by Sophie Bernard.

The song has become a pop standard, recorded by many artists.

The two biggest hit versions in 1917 were recorded by Elsie Baker (using the pseudonym Edna Brown) and by the Victor Military Band.

Baker's recording was made on December 15, 1916 and released on Victor as catalog number 18211, with the flip side being a recording of "Alice in Wonderland" by Howard & McDonough.

The Victor Military Band recording was recorded on November 29, 1916 and issued by Victor as catalog number 35605, with the flip side “Katinka.”

Another version which received a significant amount of popularity was by Grace Kerns recording under the name Catherine (or Katherine) Clark. This version was recorded in November 1916 and released by Columbia Records as catalog number A-2167, with the flip side “Century Girl”.

Somewhat less popular, but still noted at the time, were a recording by Elizabeth Spencer, released by Thomas Edison's recording company as a disk, catalog number 50386, and an Amberol cylinder, catalog number 3039, and a recording by Prince's Orchestra (or Prince's Band), recorded December 1916 and released by Columbia Records as catalog number A-5930, with the flip side “You and I”.