Butterfly (Mariah Carey song)

"Butterfly" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her sixth studio album of the same name. It was released as the second single from the album on December 1, 1997 by Columbia Records. The song was written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff; both of them producing and arranging the song as well. "Butterfly" is a ballad combining elements of pop and gospel genres. Carey had originally conceived it as a house record with David Morales titled "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)". After realizing how personal the lyrics were and how they could be applied to Butterfly, she wrote the album's title track with Afanasieff. On the song's lyrics, Carey sings to someone, telling them to spread their wings and release into the world on their own, like a butterfly.

The song's music video depicts Carey in an abandoned house, trapped in a desolate life. As the video progresses, she leaves, apparently for the first time in years, and runs into a nearby meadow. Towards the end, Carey jumps over a barbed fence and goes out into the world on a horse. The song's lyrics and video were directly connected to Carey's personal life at the time. "Butterfly" was performed live on the Late Show with David Letterman, Saturday Night Live and various European television programs. The song was also a permanent part of the set-list during her Butterfly World Tour during 1998. Due to current conflict with Columbia, "Butterfly" was never issued a commercial release, therefore hindering its charting ability. The song performed weakly on the charts, peaking outside the top twenty in most countries, except for New Zealand, where it peaked at number 15. In the United States, "Butterfly" was not eligible to chart on the Hot 100 due to Billboard rules at the time.

Butterfly (Kylie Minogue song)

"Butterfly" is a song by Australian recording artist and songwriter Kylie Minogue from her seventh studio album Light Years (2000). The song was written by Minogue and Steven Anderson and was produced by DJ Mark Picchiotti. It was released as the sixth and first promotional single off her album.

The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, many saying it is an instant standout from the album. The song was originally issued to clubs in spring 2000 in the UK as a test pressing to gauge DJ reaction to Minogue's new material. "Butterfly" had been in the running to be the fourth single from Light Years, but due to its strong club influences it was pulled in favour of the radio-friendly "Please Stay". However, Mark Pichotti remixed the track and issued it in the United States through his own Blue2 label (a division of Blueplate Records), where it became a hit on the Billboard Dance music charts. The song had peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Butterfly (Kaela Kimura song)

"Butterfly" is a wedding song by Japanese musician Kaela Kimura, released as a digital single on June 1, 2009, roughly a month before her fifth album, Hocus Pocus. It was extremely successful, reaching downloads of over 2,000,000 just over six months after its release. It is Kimura's most successful single digitally. Columbia released a special instrumental version of the song on February 14, 2010.

Writing and inspiration

The song is a ballad, arranged with a harpsichord and piano backing. As the song progresses, a band arrangement with electric guitars and drums is introduced. Also present in the song are the sounds of church bells, a children's choir and a church organ. The lyrics describe a newly wed bride as a butterfly, who is "more wonderful today than any other time before" who "flaps white wings, together towards happiness." The verses deal with how the person writing the song met the wedding bride so long ago, and describes the wedding ceremony, and how happy the bride is.

Terra (currency)

Terra (The Trade Reference Currency, TRC) is the name of a possible "world currency". The concept was proposed by Belgian economist and expert on monetary systems Bernard A. Lietaer in 2001, based on a similar proposal from the 1930s.

The currency is meant to be based on a basket of the 9-12 most important commodities (according to their importance in worldwide trade). Lietaer opines this would provide a currency that wouldn't suffer from inflation:

Terra = reference unit defined as standardized basket of key internationally traded commodities & services.

Example: 100 Terra =
                                         1 barrel of oil
                                      + 10 bushels of wheat
                                      + 20 kg of copper
                                        ...
                                      + 1/10 of ounce of gold

NB: any standardizable good or service can be included.
Similar stability to gold standard, but with basket instead of single commodity (more stable than any one component)...

Terra is Inflation-resistant by definition.

Terra (comics)

Terra is the name used by three fictional characters published by DC Comics. The first Terra was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, and debuted in New Teen Titans (vol. 1) #26 (December 1982).

The second Terra debuted in New Titans #79 (September 1991) and was created by Marv Wolfman and Tom Grummett.

The third Terra debuted in Supergirl #12 (January 2007) and was created by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, and Amanda Conner.

Publication history

The character was created with an intended finite life span. Co-creator Pérez states, "from the very start, that this girl was going to be a traitor and that we were going to kill this character off." When creating the look of the character, Pérez noted that:

Terra (Kingdom Hearts)

Terra (Japanese: テラ, Hepburn: Tera) is a fictional character from Square Enix's video game franchise Kingdom Hearts. He was introduced in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep as one of the three protagonists. He had a cameo appearance in a secret ending of Kingdom Hearts II and its re-release Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix; the later game included an optional boss fight against the Lingering Will (留まりし思念, Todomarishi Shinen), a hollow armor containing Terra's mind. In Birth by Sleep, Terra appears as one of the apprentices from Master Eraqus who trains him alongside his friends Aqua and Ventus to become masters of the Keyblade weapon. When Master Xehanort disappears, Terra is sent to find him and also tame the growing darkness within himself.

Terra's character was designed by the director series Tetsuya Nomura when preparing the secret endings of Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix. He was developed to be reminiscent to the Xehanort featured in previous titles as well as having a connection with Riku, one of the series' main characters. Ryōtarō Okiayu has done the voice of Terra in Japanese and Jason Dohring in the English version. Video game publications gave mixed responses to Terra's character, with many noting his similarity to the Final Fantasy VII character Zack Fair and later commenting on his naive portrayal in Birth by Sleep.