Blue is a song by the rock band A Perfect Circle, released on July 27, 2004. It was the third single from the band’s second studio album, Thirteenth Step, behind the releases of the singles Weak and Powerless and The Outsider. While not as successful as the prior two singles, which crossed over into the Billboard Hot 100 charts and hit the top 5 of the Mainstream Rock charts, the song was still a moderate success, peaking at number 19 on the latter chart. A remix version, Blue (Bird Shake mix), was created by guitarist James Iha and released on the band’s compilation album Amotion as well, and also received radio airplay.
The song originates from Howerdel‘s early sessions for the album, being written shortly after seeing the effects of the 9/11 attacks in September 2001. Influenced by the dark scenes, Howerdel wrote thinking of themes of “escape” and “fearing the worst”. The song’s first iteration was written and recorded all in one take by Howerdel with a bass guitar, under the working title of “Red”. After Keenan reconvened with the band for the album’s final recording sessions over the first half of 2003, tension occurred between Keenan and Howerdel, due to Keenan wanting to rearrange and mellow out many of Howerdel‘s early sessions recordings such as Blue. During this time, the song was given lyrics by Keenan, who tied its meaning more into the Thirteenth Step‘s concept of addiction and recovery, with the lyrics being about having to confront the aftermath of a person overdosing on drugs, especially heroin usage. Allegory in the lyrics refer to respiratory depression, resulting in features turning blue from a lack of oxygen, somnolence (referred to as ‘nodding’ by recreational users), and euphoria.
Tracklist:
- Blue (album version)
- Blue (Bird Shake Mix)
A Perfect Circle
Maynard James Keenan: lead vocals
Billy Howerdel: guitar, backing vocals
Josh Freese: drums
Twiggy Ramirez: bass, backing vocals (on “Blue”)
Troy Van Leeuwen: guitar
Paz Lenchantin: strings
Danny Lohner: guitar
