Butterfly Kisses-Bob Carlisle

Bob Carlisle was born on September 29, 1956 in Los Angeles, California. He worked with a couple of bands before pursuing a solo career. He performed in clubs in the 1970s. He performs Christian music, his most notable song being “Butterfly Kisses.” He won the Grammy for Best Country Song in 1997. The song also won a Dove award for Song of the Year. In the late 1970s he married his wife, Jacque. They had two children together; a daughter, Brooke, and a son, Evan. "Butterfly Kisses" had been written as a gift for his daughter Brooke's sixteenth birthday and was a song that he had never intended to record.
In the song “Butterfly Kisses,” there is a simile in the line “Like the wind, the years go by.” There is a hyperbole in the line “Trying her wings out in a great big world,” because she doesn’t actually have wings to try out. There is imagery in the line “Stickin' little white flowers all up in her hair.” The reader can picture a little girl putting flowers in her hair. There is symbolism in the line “little white flowers.” The flowers symbolize purity and childhood. He uses white flowers to show how innocent his daughter is when she is a child. There is consonance in the line “sweet sixteen today,” showing the next part of his daughter’s life. The whole song tells a story, creating a picture of his daughter growing up and how he sometimes feels like he is losing his daughter, but that she will always be his baby girl. The song is emotionally evocative because it brings thoughts of growing up and having that relationship with your father.
The main device used in this song is imagery. The whole song can create a picture in the listener’s mind. There is a lot of symbolism to show the innocence of his daughter as a child. Having written this song for his daughter, Bob Carlisle’s song is relatable to many girls with good relationships with their fathers.