"Elusive Butterfly" is a popular song written by Bob Lind, released as a single in December 1965,[1] which reached number 5 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the adult contemporary chart in the spring of 1966.

[2] In Australia, Lind's "Elusive Butterfly" entered the charts on April 10, 1966, and spent three weeks at number 2 during July of that year.

Bob Lind wrote "Elusive Butterfly" around sunrise while pulling an all-nighter in 1964: at that time he was living in Denver, performing at local folk clubs.

"[3] In 1965, feeling that Denver's folk music scene was in decline, Lind relocated to California, first staying in San Francisco; the day after he'd bused down to Los Angeles, Lind played a performance tape made at a Denver club for Richard Bock, head of World Pacific Records.

[Nitzsche] sat there listening to me plunk my way through four or five tunes and stunned me by telling Lenny: 'You finally got an honest writer here.'

"[6] The choice of single was the track "Cheryl's Goin' Home" with "Elusive Butterfly" – (Lind quote:)"[which] we thought was the weakest song"[5] – serving as B-side to prevent split airplay.

While "Cheryl's Goin' Home" upon its November 1965 release failed to generate any significant radio action, Miami area station WQAM began airing "Elusive Butterfly" with the track ranking in the top ten of the station's hit parade by the year's end with resultant interest from other Florida radio stations affording "Elusive Butterfly" regional hit status strong enough to cause Liberty Records to reissue Lind's debut single with "Elusive Butterfly" as A-side by in January 1966.

Jane Morgan released a version on her 1966 album Fresh Flavor, and the song reached number 9 on the Easy Listening chart.