For nearly two years, Zerobaseone have been running at full speed. After wrapping up their “Timeless World” tour just two months ago, the group show no signs of slowing down. And just last week, they returned with “Blue”, proving their dedication to growth.
As The Korea Times shares, ““Blue”, is an alternative pop dance song featuring cool synth sounds and emotional vocals, delivering a sense of mysterious freshness. The song’s lyrics explore the concept of bittersweet yet beautiful fated love, while the group’s upgraded vocal harmonies, diverse chords and chants highlight their musical growth”.
“Blue”’s freshness stands out the most, alongside nostalgia and melancholy, tying in with the album’s overall exploration of “emotions such as sadness, anxiety, obsession and growing pains” (The Korea Times).
With a colour as its title, featuring blue in their music video was an obvious choice. But for a group like Zerobaseone, it’s never that simple. Rather than featuring a single shade or concept, blue takes on multiple meanings.
It often appears in various forms such as in shades, in environments with references to the ocean and sky, and even through a literal blue filter that invites viewers to see their world through a blue-tinted lens. More than just an aesthetic choice, “Blue” redefines the colour blue. Or more accurately, it redefines the meaning of blue. Blue is not just a colour. Through “Blue”, Zerobaseone remind us that blue is also a feeling—feeling blue.
At the beginning of the MV, a darker shade of blue dominates, evoking a sense of melancholy and uncertainty. This blue is unlike the light, airy hue often associated with tranquillity. Instead, it’s deep, heavy, and suffocating, much like being submerged underwater.
Zhang Hao finds himself in an abandoned building, feigns a smile and heads towards a door with the phrase “Beyond this point lies blue reality” written above. Behind this door lies a dreamlike world where he and his members live in luxury. As Hao sings, “I wanna run into your world of bright blue”. This dreamlike world is paradisiacal, much like the shade of “bright blue”.
In an Inception-like story, Taerae, who is in reality, is in a state of unease as the police are on their tails. Reality is dark blue, aligning with the emotional interpretation of blue as “feeling blue”—a state of sadness, isolation, and anxiety. In another scene, Matthew gets into a scuffle with someone. Feeling desolate, Matthew escapes into another world.
As the MV progresses, it grows clear that the “blue reality” they’ve experienced is not enough. Zerobaseone grow greedy as they try to find “Blue Paradise” that’s hidden within “blue reality”. Through headsets hooked up to a shared apparatus, Zerobaseone concurrently escape reality into Blue Paradise, as “[CAPTAINBIN] Is now playing with you” and “Enter Blue Paradise” flashes across the screen when Hanbin joins Matthew in this alternate world.
The latter half of the MV introduces brighter, more expansive blues, shifting the mood entirely. The ocean and sky, two endless entities, become central themes.
I wanna run, into your world of bright blue
Woah-oh-oh-oh, touch the clouds
Come to me in the colors of the starry night
This is our song when the sky so blue
With that comes a change in mindset too, that maybe reality isn’t all that bad, as they put down their headsets and run out to the beach, accepting reality. Blue no longer suffocates, it breathes. It represents youth, possibilities, and the vastness of the future ahead. As Yujin sings, “I’m not worried, this ending is so perfect”. Whether they are feeling bright blue or dark blue, as written on Yujin’s finger at the beginning of the MV, “Blue is part of you”.
Blue is now synonymous with a range of feelings–anxiety, and uncertainty but also calmness, potential, and acceptance. Coupled with Zerobaseone’s dedication to the concept of youth, to feel blue or to be blue encapsulates what youth is. It’s normal to feel blue, both the bad parts (dark blue) and the good parts (bright blue).
By the end of it, “Blue” does not leave listeners with a lingering sadness. Instead, it feels dreamy and weightless. The melancholic undertones remain, but it no longer defines them. Rather than being trapped in longing, the song embraces both sides of reality, much like how the sky and ocean remain vast and open despite their scary depth.
(Youtube[1]. The Korea Times. Lyrics via Genius. Images via WakeOne.)
