As Prince‘s Piano & A Microphone 1983—an album of unreleased live cassette recorded piano-only Prince demos—nears its September 21 release date, the estate of the late artist has shared a new track from the project. “Why the Butterflies” is a rare demo that never got turned into a fully thought-out Prince record. The delicate ballad is a six and a half minute, tender exploration, both in its lyrics about figuring out your emotions and in the way Prince is clearly trying to “find” the record from a technical and structural standpoint. “Why the Butterflies” follows the release of demos for “17 Days” and a cover of “Mary Don’t You Weep,” it’s also one of three unreleased records from Prince to be included on the album. Listen to “Why the Butterflies” below.
