Blue (BigBang song)

Did You Know?

• BigBang won Song of the Month at the Cyworld Digital Music Awards and the 2nd Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards for "Blue."
• "Blue" achieved a Triple Crown on Inkigayo and collected a total of six music program awards.

Background and composition

YG Entertainment revealed a partial tracklist for BigBang's upcoming album on January 27, 2012, which included "Blue." On February 7, the label confirmed the EP would be titled Alive and released on February 29, also announcing the Alive Galaxy Tour starting March 2 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul. The full tracklist published on February 16 highlighted "Blue" as a lead single, and further details described it as an emotional track showcasing the band's honest feelings. Released at midnight local time on February 22, it was the first single from Alive and marked BigBang's first single in nearly a year. A Japanese version was recorded for the group's fourth Japanese studio album of the same name, released March 28, 2012, and the song later appeared on the greatest hits album The Best of Big Bang 2006-2014. The song was written and produced by G-Dragon and Teddy Park, with additional lyrics by T.O.P. Yim Hyun-su of The Korea Herald described the track as having a "crispy sound that reminds you of the cold and fresh air early in the morning." Composed in G major at 125 beats per minute, the title "Blue" represents the sadness and grief after a separation, marking a stylistic shift toward a more emotional and vulnerable side of the group. The group stated the song expresses feelings of longing, emptiness, and sadness, while also providing "a warm feeling of being comforted."

Critical reception

"Blue" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its fresh musical style. The Borneo Post called it a "therapeutic confession" with hints of modernism. Kaitlin Miller of the Chicago Sun-Times included it in a 2016 list of best BigBang songs, noting the EP's mature sound with interesting electronic samples. Fuse TV contrasted the track with "Fantastic Baby," calling it "clean [and] clutter-free." Owen Meyers of Popjustice ranked it second on his list of 2012's best K-pop singles, praising its subtle build into a "non-boring slowburn anthem." Caitlin Kelley of Billboard referred to it as one of BigBang's career-defining hits and "their smoothest R&B concoction to date."

Commercial performance

In South Korea, "Blue" entered the Gaon Digital Chart at number one for the week ending February 25, 2012, and remained there for three consecutive weeks. It sold 833,233 digital units in its opening week, topping the Download Chart, and added 537,161 and 348,535 units in the following two weeks. Despite a late February release, it became the best-selling and best-performing song of the month. It debuted at number one on the Streaming Chart with over 2.1 million streams, holding the top spot for four weeks and becoming the most-streamed single of March. By year's end, it accumulated 3,365,275 downloads and 24,040,039 streams, ranking as the fourth best-selling song and tenth best-performing single overall in 2012. It spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard K-pop Hot 100 and peaked at number three on the US World Digital Songs chart. By 2015, it had sold over 3.56 million digital downloads in South Korea.

Music video and promotion

The music video for "Blue" was uploaded to BigBang's official YouTube channel on the single's release date. Filmed in Brooklyn, New York City, it was directed by Han Sa-min, who had previously directed the video for "Love Song." Video producer Justin Noto said the group wanted a look evoking the drudges of 1970s New York, but finding locations with that rundown feel was challenging due to the city's cleanup. The crew selected the Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster at Luna Park as a filming location, using long dolly shots of the band running along the Cyclone. Additional scenes were shot in an industrial section of Brooklyn and on a warehouse rooftop in DUMBO, incorporating views of the Manhattan Bridge to convey a drudge-like urban atmosphere. The video received over eight million views in five days and became a top trending video on YouTube. To promote the single, BigBang performed on SBS's Inkigayo and Mnet's M Countdown in March, making their comeback stage on Inkigayo on March 11, 2012, where they performed "Blue" alongside "Fantastic Baby" and "Bad Boy." The group also included the track in the setlist for their Alive Galaxy Tour, which began March 2–4 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, and ran 48 shows across Asia, North America, South America, and Europe until January 2013.