I wrote this song about a friend of mine who had lost everything. His story of loss, victimization and attempted suicide touched me deeply. I was struck with this image of a butterfly in a jar, dying a slow death. I imagined being totally exposed, having nowhere to hide and what it would be like to experience that feeling of utter helplessness. The subtle paraphrasing of certain verses from Psalms were intentional.
The video was filmed in the drug infested streets of Gastown in Vancouver BC Canada. The original actress hired for the video called in sick on the day of the shoot and we had to find a replacement at the last minute. Because we needed a female teenager, I asked my daughter Jess if she would fill in. She did an amazing job and I was so proud of her. It was an eye opening experience for her to spend a day on skid row and one I’m sure one she’ll never forget. Jess still refuses to watch this video to this day (I think it’s because she doesn’t like the way she looks wearing that make-up to make her look like an addict. She was portraying a former addict who was rescued by a woman at the Salvation Army. She made a complete recovery and returned to this area many years later to help others the way she was once helped. You can see her in the last frame of the video.