Blue (Big Bang song)

"Blue" (Korean: 블루) is a single by South Korean group Big Bang. It was released by YG Entertainment on February 22, 2012, as the first single from their EP Alive. Written and composed by G-Dragon and Teddy, with additional rap parts penned by T.O.P, "Blue" peaked atop the Gaon Digital Chart and the K-Pop Hot 100, as well as becoming their first to achieve a perfect all kill in South Korea.[2][3] "Blue" finished 2012 as one of best-performing singles of the year in South Korea and has since been one of the best-selling singles in the country.

"Blue"
Single by Big Bang
from the album Alive
ReleasedFebruary 22, 2012
GenreR&B, electronic
Length3:53
LabelYG Entertainment
Songwriter(s)G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P[1]
Producer(s)Teddy, G-Dragon[1]
Big Bang singles chronology
"Love Song"
(2011)		 "Blue"
(2012)		 "Bad Boy"
(2012)

Background

The group's label YG Entertainment released posters with each member of Big Bang on different dates to promote the songs of the EP Alive, before its release. On February 17, 2012, the last poster was released containing G-Dragon introducing "Blue", which would be released as the first single from Alive.[4] The song was released one week before the EP on February 22, 2012. The song's music video was filmed in New York City and directed by Han Sa Min. American producer Justin Noto, that selected the places for the filming along with Jesse Roberts, commented that the group was "interested in a look that seemed like the drudges of New York, the old 1970s feel."[5] A Japanese version of the song was included at the Japanese studio albums Alive and the greatest hits album The Best of Big Bang 2006-2014.

Composition and reception

"Blue" is a mellow mid-tempo track, guitar heavy and melodic. The title "Blue" represents the lyrical-content of the song, that talks about the sadness one feels when they lose a love. The message of the track is how to find rejuvenation in the face of accepting sorrow and loss.[6][7] "Blue" expresses a more emotional side of Big Bang that has been hidden before.[2] The members explained that the track is "about being lonely, or feeling empty. Sorrow? All the pain turning blue. Sort of being comforted, it’s that kind of warmness."[8]

The Borneo Post described the song as an throwback recipe "with hints of modernism," calling it a "therapeutic confession."[9] Kaitlin Miller of Sun-Times included the song in their list of best Big Bang songs, calling "Blue" a "smooth, emotional track". Miller also felt that the single highlighted "a more mature sound" from the group, and that it contained more "interesting electronic samples and production techniques" compared to their previous work.[10]

Commercial performance

As soon as it was released, the song charted at number one in all of Korean online music charts, including Melon, M.net and Soribada.[3] "Blue" debuted at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart and on the K-pop Hot 100, and remained at the first spot for three weeks in both charts.[11][12] The single had the highest first week sales of 2012 and the biggest debut sales of a boy band song of all time in the Gaon Chart, gathering 833,233 downloads. On its second and third weeks, additional 537,161 and 348,535 digital units, respectively, were sold.[13][14] "Blue" also debuted at number one on the Gaon Streaming Chart, recording over 2.1 million audio streams.[15] It remained atop of this chart for another three weeks, totalling four weeks being the most streamed song.[16][17][18]

Even though it was released in the last week of the month, "Blue" was the best-selling song of February,[19] and the most streamed song of March.[20] The single finished 2012 as the fourth best-selling song of the year.[21] With over 3,5 million digital downloads in South Korea, "Blue" is one of the best-selling singles in the country.

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Blue"G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.PG-Dragon, TeddyTeddy3:53
Japanese version
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Blue"G-Dragon, Sunny BoyG-Dragon, TeddyTeddy3:59

Charts and sales

Sales
Country Sales
South Korea (digital) 3,567,768[26]
China (KuGou) 658,453[27]

Accolades
Awards
Year Organization Award Result Ref.
2012 Cyworld Digital Music Awards Song of the Month (February) Won [28]
2013 Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards Won [29]
Music program wins
Program Date
M! Countdown (Mnet) March 8, 2012
Music Bank (KBS) March 9, 2012
March 16, 2012
Inkigayo (SBS) March 11, 2012
March 18, 2012
March 25, 2012
Music on Top (JTBC) March 14, 2012

Release history
Region Date Format Label
South Korea February 22, 2012 Digital download YG Entertainment
Various
Japan March 28, 2012 YG Entertainment, YGEX

References
  1. "Alive - Bigbang". Qobuz (in French). Retrieved 2017-02-28.
  2. "Big Bang dominates music charts with "Blue"". allkpop. February 22, 2012.
  3. "Big Bang Jumps to Top of Music Charts With "Blue"". STAR MT. February 22, 2012. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  4. "Bigbang is Back". YG Life. February 17, 2012.
  5. "Big Bang Music Video Producers Jesse Roberts And Justin Noto Of Agon Creative On The Making Of 'Bad Boy' And 'Blue' [Exclusive]". Kpop Starz. February 6, 2014.
  6. "Big Bang is back with their MV for "Blue"!". Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  7. "Big Bang 'Blue': Band Releases First Music Video, Track off 'Alive' [Video]". International Business Times. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  8. "Bigbang Releases "Blue," Explains The Song In Video Message". Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  9. "Album Review: Big Bang's Alive". The Borneo Post. 2012-03-04.
  10. "Big Bang's 10 best songs of the past 10 years". Sun-Times. 2016-02-05. Archived from the original on 2016-02-07. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  11. "Digital Chart Week 9". Gaon Chart. February 19, 2012.
  12. "Korea K-Pop Hot 100 Chart". Billboard. March 10, 2012.
  13. "Gaon Download Chart - - Week 10 of 2012". Gaon Chart. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  14. "Gaon Download Chart - Week 11 of 2012". Gaon Chart. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  15. "Gaon Streaming Chart - Week 9 of 2012". Gaon Chart. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  16. "Week 10 of 2012". Gaon Streaming Chart. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  17. "Week 11 of 2012". Gaon Streaming Chart. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  18. "Week 12 of 2012". Gaon Streaming Chart. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  19. "Gaon Download Chart - February 2012". Gaon Chart. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  20. "Gaon Streaming Chart - March 2012". Gaon Chart. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  21. "Gaon Download Chart - Year-End 2012". Gaon Chart. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  22. "World Digital Songs". Billboard. March 10, 2012.
  23. "Digital Chart - February". Gaon Chart. March 1, 2012.
  24. "Yearly Digital Chart - 2012". Gaon Chart. February 9, 2017.
  25. "Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100 - Year-end Charts". Billboard. Billboard. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  26. Cumulative sales for "Blue"
  27. 酷狗单曲畅销榜 (in Chinese). KuGou. January 3, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  28. "Song of the Month" (in Korean). Cyworld.
  29. "Winners & Best Moments of the 2nd Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards". Soompi. 13 February 2013.
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