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Blue (Da Ba Dee)

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"Blue (Da Ba Dee)"
Single by Eiffel 65
from the album Europop
ReleasedOctober 1998 (1998-10)[1]
GenreEurodance[2]
Length
  • 4:43 (album version)
  • 3:39 (video edit)
  • 3:29 (US radio edit)
LabelSkooby
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Eiffel 65 singles chronology
"With or Without You"
(1998) 		"Blue (Da Ba Dee)"
(1998) 		"Too Much of Heaven"
(1999)
Music video
"Blue (Da Ba Dee)" on YouTube

"Blue (Da Ba Dee)" is a song by Italian music group Eiffel 65. It was first released in October 1998 in Italy by Skooby Records and became internationally successful the following year.[1] It is the lead single of their 1999 debut album, Europop. The song is the group's most popular single, reaching number one in at least 18 countries, charting at number three in Italy, and peaking at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 in January 2000.

In the United Kingdom, the song initially entered the top 40 purely on import sales; it was only the third single to do this.[3] The song also received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 2001 Grammy Awards.[4]

Writing and production

Written by Eiffel 65 lead singer Jeffrey Jey, keyboardist Maurizio Lobina, and producer Massimo Gabutti, "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" was inspired by Lobina's composed opening piano hook. The producers of the song then came up with the idea for a dance song. Jey explained that his inspiration for the lyrics was how a person chooses their lifestyle. The colour blue as the main theme of the song was picked at random, with Lobina telling him to write nonsensical lyrics. Gabutti came up with the "da ba dee" hook.[5][6] The pitch-shifted vocal effect used in the song was created with a harmonizer.[7]

Lyrics and composition

Eiffel 65 – "Blue (Da Ba Dee)", 1999
A 30-second sample of Jeffrey Jey's vocals on "Blue (Da Ba Dee)." The song was one of the first ever popular tracks to use pitch correction.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Blue (Da Ba Dee)" is written in the key of G minor, with the vocal range spanning from C3 to E♭4,[8] and is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 128 beats per minute.[9]

The song's lyrics tell a story about a man who lives in a "blue world." It also explains that he is "blue inside and outside," which, alongside the lyric "himself and everybody around 'cause he ain't got nobody to listen," and "blue are the feelings that live inside me" may indicate that the term blue represents his emotional state; however, the song also explains that a vast variety of what he owns is also blue, including his house and his car ("a blue Corvette"): different blue-coloured objects are also depicted on the single's cover.[10]

Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews from critics. Chuck Taylor from Billboard wrote that "the hook here, with its dancy but curiously compelling singsongy rhythm and lyric, is destined to react instantly with listeners far and wide." He also noted that it has a "euro sound", and "it's creative, it will affect listeners on both ends of the demographic spectrum, and it's anthemic."[11] A reviewer from Entertainment Weekly positively reviewed the song, calling the song "a fleeting, feel-good foot-tapper" and gave the song a rating of B−.[12] Scottish newspaper Daily Record said it is the "strangest-sounding Euro-club hit of the summer".[13] The Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen described it as a "quirky little hit" with a "bouncy chorus". He also noted that "the key is the use of the voice synthesizer".[14] PopMatters reviewer Chris Massey, in his review of Europop, described his initial reaction to the song as being "really, really bad." However, he later stated in the review that after many repeated listenings of the song he "loved it."[15] AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis described the song as a "hypnotic smash" in his review of Europop.[16]

Rolling Stone, however, in their review of Europop, gave the song a negative review, commenting that the song "blends Cher-esque vocoder vocals, trance-like synth riffs, unabashed Eurodisco beats and a baby-babble chorus so infantile it makes the Teletubbies sound like Shakespeare." The magazine also placed the song on their list of the "20 Most Annoying Songs," at No. 14.[17]

Chart performance

The single, released in October 1998, was a chart-topper in many European countries. The song initially found success in France, where it debuted in August 1999 and reached number one for three weeks. It then found success in other European countries, reaching the top spot on many charts in September the same year, including Germany, the Netherlands,[18] Switzerland,[19] Sweden,[20] The song re-charted on 6 May 2013 at No. 40 in the UK.[21]

Music video

Eiffel 65 on television screens during the opening segment of the video.

The accompanying music video for the song was released in 1999 by BlissCoMedia, a computer graphics division of Bliss Corporation, known at the time the video was produced and released as BlissMultiMedia.[22]

Like much of the Bliss Corporation's music videos, this one was done in a green screen garage studio at BlissCoMedia,[23][24] and it featured computer-generated graphics that were done in 3ds Max.[25] With very few resources, tutorials and books, and only one editing machine, the video was made between 1998 and 1999 in a garage in about two to three months, much like other videos made by BlissCo.[26]

Former BlissCo employee Davide La Sala has talked about coming up with the story for the video: "We had brainstorming sessions and we were a very imaginative team, huge fans of sci-fi movies and video games: Blade Runner, Star Wars, etc… we were master in doing our best and working with the few tools we had to create complete short stories in a very short period of time."[23]

Similar to other music videos by BlissCo, a total of five people worked on this video. The green-screen footage was done in a short amount of time, and some of it was put into a computer-generated 3D environment, while components of the band were also shot. La Sala said, "We were very flexible but every person in the team had his own special skill who was more towards motion graphics, design and editing, others more skilled in architectural design and me and the CEO experts in animation."[23]

The video was listed in NME's "50 Worst Music Videos Ever".[27]

Synopsis

The video takes place on Tukon4, where lead singer Jeffrey Jey is abducted by blue-coloured aliens Zorotl and Sayok6 during a concert.[28]

Notable cover versions and parodies

Formats and track listings

Charts

Certifications

Certifications and sales for "Blue (Da Ba Dee)"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[93] 3× Platinum 210,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[94] Platinum 50,000*
Belgium (BEA)[95] 2× Platinum 100,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[96] Gold 50,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[97] Gold 45,000‡
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[98] Gold 7,957[98]
France (SNEP)[99] Diamond 750,000*
Germany (BVMI)[100] 5× Gold 1,250,000^
Italy (FIMI)[101]
sales since 2009 		Platinum 50,000‡
Netherlands (NVPI)[102] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[103] Platinum 10,000*
Sweden (GLF)[104] 3× Platinum 90,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[105] 2× Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[107] 2× Platinum 1,600,000[106]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release dates for "Blue (Da Ba Dee)"
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
Italy October 1998
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
 Skooby [1]
Spain 1999 Blanco y Negro
France Hot Tracks
Europe 28 June 1999 CD Logic [48]
United Kingdom 13 September 1999
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Eternal [108]
United States 30 November 1999
[109]

References

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