Customer Reviews

Butterfly Kisses (Shades Of Grace)

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On April 8, 2000 I married my wonderful husband David. At our wedding reception my father and I danced to "Butterfly Kisses". While we were dancing a projector in the back of the reception hall showed pictures of the my Dad & I through the years. I will never forget the words we shared on the dance floor, the laughing and crying in the crowd, nor the tears running down my father's face. This song summed up our life together and will always be special to both of us. As a keepsake, I purchased this CD & the "Butterfly Kisses" book for my father as a wedding thank you gift. I would highly recommend this song & cd to anyone planning a wedding with a very special father in their life!

My dad played this song for my sister at her wedding on Saturday 22 November 1999. My dad has never been the type of person to display his feelings in an open manner. Only 6 months ago we found out that he has got terminal cancer, so the wedding was very emotional time for all. The song was dedicated to Nicole from dad and there wasnt a dry eye in the place. Butterfly Kisses will always have a very special place in all the hearts of those that attended the wedding. Thank you Bob.

My daughter, Hillary, bought me this CD right after her mother and I separated, because she heard it on the radio and thought of me. I play it quite regularly and the only thing I think about, while listening to it, is Hillary and how she has been the most wonderful gift God has ever given me, besides salvation. I am now in the process of making a video for my "Little Girl" and "Butterfly Kisses" is the featured song. I am going to see Bob, in concert, tonight and am hoping to get some good footage of him, singing this song, so I can include it in the video. This will be the most rewarding project I have ever done. I am sure that my Hillary will think it is "The Greatest", too. By the way, Hillary was only six years old when she bought this song for "Her Daddy". She is eight now and lives 1500 miles away, so the video will be great for her to review in my absence. THANK YOU BOB, for the song, "Butterfly Kisses" and THANK YOU JESUS for "Daddy's Little Girl".

When Bob Carlisle's album, "Butterfly Kisses (Shades of Grace)" went toward the top of the charts in 1997 - it was a major surprise. This Christian Contemporary album came out of left field to generate some significant sales. Much of the success of this album was propelled by the title song "Butterfly Kisses". Carlisle puts together a nice album of some Christian tunes with some very good songwriting that was a refreshing change from the ever dominant "alternative music" landscape.

Out of the gate, I think it is some powerful songwriting that gives the strength to this album. To be objective here, Bob Carlisle is a nice vocalist, but I don't think he does much to distinguish himself as a great vocalist. He is good enough to carry out the lyrics that he wrote - and that's good enough for this collection. Carlisle's work does show a nice amount of diversity in the instrumentals that inject some nice moments into what could have been an ballads album. While this is a nice effort and certainly the collection has its moments where it justifies why it was able to make a print on the 1997 music landscape - I still wouldn't go as far as to say this is a Hall of Fame album.

The title track, "Butterfly Kisses" tells the story of a father's relationship with his daughter. This song was the most successful and has probably made a permament mark in terms of being a song that will be a staple at weddings and Sweet 16 parties. This is a song that really makes use of metaphors (i.e. 'to perfume and makeup from ribbons and curls"). "Butterfly Kisses" is included as the first and last song and there are some suttle differences between the two versions (the latter is a 'live' version). One of these differences is when "All the precious time..." is sung about 3:15 into the song, you will hear stronger percussion on the later 'live' version of the song. Carlisle has definitely rode the wave with the success of this song. He has used the title song on 2 other albums. In fact, this album was originally released as "Shades of Grace". As the song "Butterfly Kisses" gained momentum, the "Shades of Grace" collection was repackaged as "Butterfly Kisses" and the order of all of the songs was reshuffled as well.

The Christian Contemporary framework on this album is present on every track of this album. There are songs on the collection that do have a late 1970's adult contemporary feel to it in terms of the sound. This is demonstrated on the tracks "You Must Have Been a Angel" and "I'm Gonna Be Ready". These two songs are two of the stronger tracks on the album as well. The later track features a great duet with Bryan Duncan - who is also a well known voice in the Christian Contemporary music scene. (I like the reference to Bob Carlisle as "Bobby C" in the song). The song "On My Way to Paradise" almost has a Michael McDonald - especially with the background vocals. "One Man Revival" and "It is Well with My Soul" are nice songs that are solid Christian Contemporary Songs - if you listen closely, you might get the feel of a (very) light carribean sound in the background of each of these songs.

The song "Man of His Word" is one of those songs that has brilliant lyrics. In this song Carlisle tells the story of a preacher and his relationship with his family over 50 years. The song discusses three periods: 1944 when the preacher met his wife, 1964 when the Vietnam War would divide the family, and 1994 when the preacher is on his deathbed. This is some very powerful stuff and shows how the strength of the lyrics can carry the song.

Finally the song, "On My Knees" is another nice song. This song does have a Gospel feel to it. It doesn't have a Gospel Chorus on it, but it could have easily had one. This is one track on the album where the lyrics don't carry it, but the music and surprisingly, Carlisle's vocals prove to be the real strength of this song.

The liner notes are solid in that the lyrics are included to all of the songs - as well as the songwriting and musician credits. As mentioned above, this album does fall short of being a "Hall of Fame" album. While I do think there is some brilliant songwriting, this is a tough album to get into for long periods of time. The things that are nice about this album are probably found on many of Christian Contemporary (or for that matter Adult Contemporary) albums. Clearly, it will be the strength of some powerful lyrics that will be what this album has to offer. It was a shame it didn't get the mainstream radio airplay to back the solid sales of this album. As a result, this is a solid album - and even if you aren't a Christian Contemporary music fan, you may find this collection enjoyable.

I only want to chime in by saying I realize Butterfly Kisses is a sentimental favorite of just about everyone but I think the other songs like Mighty Love are very good ones also. It is a nice cd as a whole. Some cds you find your self skipping to the good songs. I'd let this one roll from start to finish. My humble opinion.

I gave this CD along with the companion Father/Daughter Journal to my Dad for Father's Day a couple years ago. He listens to it often, especially at holidays and when he can't sleep. I plan to use this song in my wedding.

I really enjoy listening to this album. Almost every song touches my heart. Sometimes I even feel moved to tears! This is especially so with Butterfly Kisses. However all the other songs are just as good because there's usually some story behind it, or some "wise words". I'd say this CD is inspirational.

Butterfly kisses has to be one of the best songs I have ever heard. I hope when my daughters get married I can make it through the whole song. It rings so close to home. Bravo Bob, this is one of your finest !!

makes me think of all my daughters when they were little girl

My best friend's father recently passed away from a heart attack. My friend is only thirteen years old and her and her father had always been very close so it has been very hard for her to go on with life as she would in other circummstances. She often listens to the song Butterfly Kisses because it reminds her of her relationship with her dad. It is very emotional for a person like her to have to go through life like this and I am glad that she is able to find comfort in such a beautiful song.