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Song

"Blue" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her self-titled fifth studio album (2013). It was written and produced by the singer along with musician Boots who collaborated on the majority of the tracks on the album. The song is written as a tribute to Beyoncé's daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, who is credited as a featured artist on it. She can be heard during the song's outro laughing, repeating the chorus lines and mispronouncing her mother's name. The song lyrically describes pleasures the protagonist feels due to the newly experienced motherhood. Music critics were positive towards the track, praising the inclusion of Blue Ivy and its placement on the album.

The music video for the song was directed by Ed Burke, Bill Kirstein and Beyoncé and released on the album on December 13, 2013. It was filmed in Rio de Janeiro and features various shots of the city and its locals. The clip features Beyoncé and Blue Ivy strolling through the city and its beaches. Upon its release on the album, the visual received positive reviews from critics who praised its intimate nature and the glimpse of the mother and daughter together it offered. Beyoncé performed the song live for the first time during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards during a medley consisting of songs from her fifth studio album.

Background

Boots (pictured) served as the co-producer and co-writer of "Blue" along with Beyoncé.

"Blue" was written and produced by musician Boots and Beyoncé, with the latter also handling its vocal production. It was recorded with the guidance from Boots, Stuart White and Jonathan Lee at Jungle City Studios and Oven Studios, both located in New York City. The track's second engineering was finished by Ramon Rivas along with the assistance of Justin Hergett and James Krausse. For the instrumentation of "Blue", Boots played the piano, drums, guitar and keyboards, Steven Wolf played the live drums and Margot both arranged and performed the violins. Tony Maserati mixed the track at Jungle City Studios, Oven Studios and Clockworks Studios. The audio mastering was completed by Tom Coyne and Aya Merrill at Sterling Sound in New York City. Beyoncé's daughter Blue Ivy is credited as a featured artist on the song. The song marked the first time she was heard talking publicly since her birth in January 2012. It also marked a feature on the first album following Beyoncé's pregnancy. However, "Blue" did not mark the first time she was featured on a track as a snippet of her crying had previously been heard on Jay Z's "Glory", a song which was recorded as a tribute following her birth.

Boots, who helped helm the production on 80% of the songs on Beyoncé, was also responsible for the production and writing of "Blue" which was described as one of the intimate and "diaristic" moments on the album. He had the idea of including a snippet of "birds chirping outside the studio" which can be heard during the last 30 seconds of the song. Boots recalled in an interview with Pitchfork Media: "It was such a special day. Blue was talking so much—from the moment that I met that kid until then, the amount she said tripled. People were watching her making connections; she started telling everyone that the two dinosaurs she was running around with were mommy and baby dinosaur. The birds were like a stamp for the song; I wanted to remember that day."

Composition

"Blue" is a piano-laden pop ballad.

Lyrically, "Blue" finds the protagonist singing about the pleasures of motherhood. The song opens with the lines, "Sometimes these walls seem to cave in on me, when I look in your eyes, I feel alive" which described how joyous and important the relationship with her child is in her life. The song ends with a spoken outro of Blue Ivy, who is heard giggling, saying "mommy!" and the lyrics "hold on to me!" and mispronouncing her mother's name as "Bee-sy-ay, Bee-sy-ay". Her vocals are reverbed infinitely during the end. Chorus lines: "We can last forever. Come on, baby, won't you hold on to me, hold on to me?"

Critical reception

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Billy Johnson Jr. of Rolling Stone called Blue Ivy's contribution "the most adorable cameo" on the song with "the cutest pronunciation of Beyoncé's name"; he deemed that part as the "super sweet" song's best. Tom Breihan from the website Stereogum noted how follong "Heaven" on the album, "Blue" was "lighter, more buoyant, and it shines like a glimmer of hope". He went on to say that they "make for a pop-music statement of great depth and power" before naming the two tracks "maybe the realest, most grown-up things Beyoncé has ever done". Tom Barnes from Mic described "Blue" as a "vibrantly loving" song. Pretty Much Amazing's Peter Tabakis called it an "ode to maternal love". Andy Kellman from the website AllMusic found "vivid expressions" of the pleasures of motherhood present. Deeming it a "mesmerizing, spun-sugar ballad", Nick Catucci of Entertainment Weekly was very positive towards the track, citing it as an album highlight. He noted how it acted as a gift for her fans and "everyone else with a heart... Like much of Beyoncé, it balances formal inventiveness with emotional directness" and advised readers to share it with a beloved person. Clash reviewer Mike Diver concluded that listeners will "gently melt" while listening to the song.

Sputnikmusic's Conrad Tao praised the placement of "Heaven" and "Blue" as the closing two songs on Beyoncé, deeming it "hugely cathartic, like an extended and necessary epilogue... following an acceptance of death with a celebration of life isn't innovative so much as logically powerful. It's rebirth after the colorful, multifaceted, complex life that was weaved in great detail before".

Music video

A music video for "Blue" was released on December 13, 2013 through the iTunes Store, in addition to a clip for every other track on the parent album. On November 24, 2014 the clip was also uploaded to the singer's Vevo account to coincide with the release of the platinum re-issue of Beyoncé. It was directed by Beyoncé, Ed Burke and Bill Kirstein, the latter two also being involved in the production of the television film Life Is But a Dream (2013). It was filmed completely in Rio de Janeiro. It features scenes of locals from Rio de Janeiro, including kids playing on a beach and twerking on thee street. The video features Blue Ivy together with Beyoncé, whose face is shown fully only towards the end; in the other scenes she is seen hugging and twirling with her mother, never fully looking directly into the camera. Beyoncé is seen alone in various scenes, singing the song and sitting on a porch.

Kristine Kowalski of the website Hollywoodlife.com advised fans who had already watched a short teaser of the clip, to watch it in its entirety and they would be "holding back tears" by the end of the video which will "simply melt your heart". She went on praising Blue Ivy's look and concluded that although "Blue" was a love song with lyrics which could refer to her husband Jay Z, "Beyonce's strong love for her daughter is beautifully represented as she hugs her daughter tight, soaking in the sun on the beaches of Brazil". Billy Johnson Jr. of Rolling Stone called the video "gorgeous". A writer from Vibe magazine wrote that "Blue Ivy melted the Internet's heart with her aww-inducing appearance in 'Blue'". Michael Zelenko from The Fader praised the video as an intimate one and "a touching nanny diary of two-year-old Blue vacationing in Rio".

Live performances

During the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, Beyoncé performed "Blue" as the closing song during her live performance which featured a medley consisting of songs from her self-titled album. She performed the song dressed in a bodysuit and was backed by home videos of her together with Jay Z and Blue Ivy on the screen behind her. Nadeska Alexis from MTV News noted how the singer "completed the night's emotional arc" with the performance of the song.

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Beyoncé and the singer's official website.

Song credits

• Writing – Boots, Beyoncé Knowles
• Production – Boots, Beyoncé Knowles
• Vocal production – Beyoncé Knowles
• Recording – Boots, Stuart White, Jonathan Lee; Jungle City Studios and Oven Studios, New York City
• Second engineering – Ramon Rivas
• Assistant engineering – Justin Hergett, James Krausse
• Piano, drums, guitar, keyboards – Boots
• Live drums – Steven Wolf
• Violin arrangement and performance – Margot
• Additional vocals – Blue Ivy
• Audio mixing – Tony Maserati; Jungle City Studios and Oven Studios, New York City; Clockworks Studios, Brooklyn
• Audio mastering – Tom Coyne, Aya Merrill; Sterling Sound, New York City

Video credits

• Featuring – Blue Ivy
• Director – Beyoncé, Ed Burke, Bill Kirstein
• Director of photography – Ed Burke, Bill Kirstein
• Executive producer – Erinn Williams
• Producer – Bill Kirstein, Antonio M. Pereira
• Production company – Parkwood Entertainment
• Stylist – Ty Hunter, Raquel Smith
• Additional styling – Tim White
• Editor – Ed Burke
• Assistant editor – Joe Sinopoli
• Brand manager – Melissa Vargas
• Hair – Neal Farinah
• Make-up – Sir John
• Color correction – Lenny Mastrandrea
• Visual effects – Nice Shoes
• Photography – Nick Farrell
• Additional cinematography – Sam Falconi

External links

• "Blue" music video on YouTube