Song · Editors
“Papillon” by Editors
From the album In This Light and on This Evening (2009)
“Papillon” by Editors appears on 16 radio countdowns from 1 station between 2009 and 2025. It was first released in 2009 on the album In This Light and on This Evening. Its best result is #10 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 2009. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #330 alternative song of 2009 and #1,870 alternative song of all time.
Watch
Video from YouTube (EDITORS). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Papillon" led the way for In This Light and on This Evening, the third album by the English band Editors, landing as a single in October 2009. Tom Smith, Chris Urbanowicz, Russell Leetch and Ed Lay wrote it together, and with Flood producing, the band built it on a relentless, driving beat: dark-wave music you can actually dance to, all tension and forward motion.
It went to number one in Belgium's Flanders region and remains their last UK top-40 hit, and it has become the song Editors reach for when they want to close a show. Andrew Douglas directed the video, which went up online that September, a month before the single.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 10 | Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium | Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 2009 | 30 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 84 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2010) | 100 |
| 2011 | 57 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2011) | 100 |
| 2012 | 60 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2012) | 100 |
| 2013 | 51 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2013) | 100 |
| 2014 | 56 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2014) | 100 |
| 2015 | 57 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2015) | 100 |
| 2016 | 59 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2016) | 100 |
| 2017 | 66 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2017) | 100 |
| 2018 | 78 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2018) | 100 |
| 2019 | 92 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2019) | 100 |
| 2020 | 64 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2020) | 100 |
| 2021 | 71 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2021) | 100 |
| 2023 | 78 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2023) | 100 |
| 2024 | 80 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2024) | 100 |
| 2025 | 71 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2025) | 100 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Papillon" by Editors.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.