The theory describes how even the smallest of changes in present conditions, such as the flapping of a butterfly's wings, can cause a chain reaction and have a significant effect in the future, for instance a hurricane.

The song was also dedicated to Dominic Howard's father, who died shortly after the band's performance at the Glastonbury Festival.

And a chord structure started to come out of that, and I was thinking, "This could be something"".Matthew Bellamy also declared about the song: "It's about hope, about trying to find the strength to get through any given situation.

It had that sort of mechanical paradiddle thing all the way through, and then it breaks down into this kind of romantic, flowing weird bit in the middle".

The music comprises stock footage of the band playing "Butterflies and Hurricanes" at different venues during their Absolution tour with some effects added, and images of the Colosseum in Rome serving as the main backdrop.