"Blueming" is a song by South Korean singer-songwriter IU, serving as the second single from her seventh Korean-language extended play (EP) ''

Love Poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

''. It was released on November 18, 2019, through

Kakao M Kakao M Corp. (; formerly Seoul Records, YBM Seoul Records and LOEN Entertainment) was a South Korean entertainment company established by Min Yeong-bin in 1978. It was one of the largest co-publisher companies in South Korea. The company opera ...

, and was co-written by IU, Lee Jong-hoon and Lee Chae-kyu, with production handled by the latter two. Lyrically, the song expresses the sentiments of what it means to live and love in modern-day society. Commercially, the song was a success in South Korea, topping the

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based on ...

and became her 15th number-one single and 22nd number-one song overall. Additionally, "Blueming" achieved the number one position on the ''Billboard''

K-pop Hot 100 The K-pop Hot 100 was a music singles chart in South Korea, launched by ''Billboard'' in conjunction with ''Billboard'' Korea () on August 25, 2011. It is the second Asian ''Billboard'' chart after the Japan Hot 100. The chart used the same multim ...

and ranked number five on the year-end Gaon Digital Chart for 2020. It won the Digital Daesang award at the

35th Golden Disc Awards The 35th Golden Disc Awards ceremony was held from January 9–10, 2021. The show was aired on JTBC network from South Korea. It was held without a live audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee Seung-gi and Park So-dam served as hosts on the f ...

in January 2021.

Background

"Blueming" was released for digital download and

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

as the second single off of IU's seventh Korean-language extended play, titled ''

'', on November 18, 2019. It was released through various music portals, including

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

, in conjunction with the release of the EP. The song was written and composed by IU along with Lee Jong-hoon and Lee Chae-kyu, who had both worked on the composition for IU's 2015 song " Twenty-Three".

Music and lyrics

Musically, "Blueming" is composed in the key of

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 106 beats per minute, and has a runtime of 3:37. A vivacious

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

number, it continues her color-oriented lyrics featured in her previous albums ''

Chat-Shire ''Chat-Shire'' (stylized as ''CHAT-SHIRE'') is the fifth Korean-language extended play by South Korean singer-songwriter IU. The self-composed EP was released digitally on October 23, 2015, and physically four days later by LOEN Entertainment ...

'' (2015) and '' Palette'' (2017). Lyrically, the songwriting explores the themes of everyday anxieties of modern-day romance in an increasingly online and technological world, and how she has come "into bloom" with an unattainable relationship and her personal life. Tamar Herman of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' analyzed the song's lyrical message by writing, "IU sings calmly in an upbeat manner about the blue-ming emotions of sending small flower-like texts to the object of her affection, ..creating a song that is a perfect representation of what it means to live and love at the end of a decade that has seen lives turned upside-down due to the impact of social media and technology."

Commercial performance

The song debuted at number one on the

, becoming IU's 15th number one single and 22nd number-one song overall in South Korea, further extending her record for the most number one songs out of any South Korean artist. In addition, "Blueming" achieved the number-one spot on the ''

, becoming her eleventh number-one single on the Korean ''Billboard'' chart. More than a year later, the song maintained its position as one of the best performing singles in the country, ranking at number five on the year-end Gaon Digital Chart for 2020. In the United States, the song peaked at number 10 on the US

World Digital Song Sales The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—its first issue was dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-speci ...

chart in the week of November 29, 2019.

Promotion

The official music video for "Blueming" was uploaded to the YouTube channel of 1theK, a brand under Kakao M, simultaneously with the release of the single on November 18, 2019. As of December 2022, the music video has garnered over 153 million views on YouTube. To promote the song, IU performed "Blueming" on her 2019 IU Tour Concert "Love, Poem", which spanned 15 shows across East and Southeast Asia throughout November and December 2019.

Accolades

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2019 songs 2019 singles Electro songs Songs in Korean IU (singer) songs South Korean rock songs Gaon Digital Chart number-one singles Billboard Korea K-Pop number-one singles Songs written by IU (singer)