Bombs & Butterflies
album by Widespread Panic
Bombs & Butterflies is the fifth studio album by the Athens, Georgia-based band Widespread Panic. The band started recording the album in July 1996 at John Keane's studio in Athens. The band held a CD release party at Morton Theatre in Athens, one day prior to their Fox Theatre New Year's Eve run on December 28, 1996. It was first released by Capricorn Records on February 4, 1997. It would be re-released in 2001 by Zomba Music Group.
On June 19, 1997, the band performed "Aunt Avis" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. On June 21, the music video for "Aunt Avis", directed by Billy Bob Thornton, premiered on VH1. The video had been filmed in April 1997 and featured Athens singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt, who wrote the song.
The album reached a peak position of #50 on the Billboard 200 chart. The track "Hope in a Hopeless World" was a hit on rock radio, charting at #13 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks in 1997.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Bombs & Butterflies” as album by Widespread Panic. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as album by Widespread Panic. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4940789. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1996, 1997 and 2001.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Bombs & Butterflies”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Bombs & Butterflies primary sources, Bombs & Butterflies archive and Bombs research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bombs & Butterflies”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Bombs & Butterflies” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.