Blue (Da Ba Dee)

Updated on Nov 13, 2023

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B-side Remix Recorded 1998		Format CD MCD Genre Italo dance Eurodance
Released 15 January 1999 (1999-01-15) Length 3:30 (radio edit) 4:46 (extended mix) 3:40 (video version)

"Blue (Da Ba Dee)" is a hit song by the Italian music group Eiffel 65. It was released on 15 January 1999 as the lead single from their debut album Europop. The song is the group's most popular single, reaching number one in many countries such as Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, Finland, Norway, Australia, and Germany, as well as reaching number six on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the song originally entered the top 40 purely on import sales. It was only the third single to do this. The song also received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 2001 Grammy Awards.

Writing and production

"Blue", written by Eiffel 65 lead singer Jeffrey Jey, keyboardist Maurizio Lobina, and producer Massimo Gabutti, was inspired by group member Maurizio Lobina's composed opening piano hook. The producers of the song then came up with the idea for a dance song. Jey stated that his inspiration for the lyrics was how a person picked his lifestyle. The colour blue as the main topic of the song was picked at random, with Lobina telling him to write nonsensical lyrics. Lobina came up with the "da ba dee" hook at the end of this line.

Lyrics and composition

"Blue (Da Ba Dee)" is written in the key of G minor, with the vocal range spanning from C₄ to E♭₅, and is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 128 beats per minute.

The song's lyrics tell a story about a man who lives in a "blue world." It is also stated he is "blue inside and outside," which, along with the lyric "himself and everybody around 'cause he ain't got nobody to listen," may indicate that the term blue represents his emotional state; however, the song also states that a vast variety of what he owns is also blue, including his house and his car ("a blue Corvette"): various blue-coloured objects are also depicted on the single's cover. The song's hook is the sentence "I'm blue," followed by a repetition of the words "da ba dee da ba dye," which the hook is based around.

Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews from critics. Entertainment Weekly positively reviewed the song, calling the song "a fleeting, feel-good foot-tapper" and gave the song a rating of B-. 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."

Rolling Stone, however, in their review of Europop, gave the song a negative review, stating 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.

Chart performance

The single, released in April 1999, was a chart-topper in many European countries. The song initially found success in France, where it debuted on the chart in June 1999 and reached number one in late August. It then found success in other European countries, reaching the top spot on many charts in September the same year, including Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and many other countries. It replaced "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega on many of these charts at the top spot.

The song also found success in other regions, including Oceania and North America: it reached number one in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It became a top ten hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, reaching number six. It became the highest charting Italian song in the United States since Al di là by Emilio Pericoli that also peaked at six in 1962.

The song re-charted on 6 May 2013 at No. 40 in the U.K., the same week the song appeared in the film Iron Man 3.

Music video

The music video for the song was released in 1999 by the BlissCoMedia, a computer graphics company of the Bliss Corporation, known at the time the video was produced and released as "BlissMultiMedia". The video featured computer graphics created with 3ds Max, and has Eiffel 65 members Maurizio Lobina and Gabry Ponte trying to save Jeffrey Jey from the aliens Zorotl and Sayok6.

Cover versions and samplings

German singer Max Raabe and Palast Orchester covered the song for his 2001 studio album Super Hits. A cover version was released on the 2006 Crazy Frog studio album More Crazy Hits. Flo Rida sampled the chorus of "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" in his 2009 single "Sugar". Ten Masked Men also covered the song. Michael Mind Project used a sample of "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" in their 2012 single "Feeling So Blue". Sandra Lyng used a sample of the song in her single "Blue".

Use in media

The song has appeared in multiple films and television series. It was included in films such as Loser (2000), Big Fat Liar (2002), Mommy (2014), and more notably, Iron Man 3 (2013), the latter case during a flashback scene set in 1999, the year the song was released. On 15 March 2011 Ozone Entertainment released the song through the Rock Band Network. It is the first song on the service to incorporate the keyboard introduced in Rock Band 3. The song was also featured in an EDF Energy advertisement in 2015.