When assigned to the Marine Security Guard detachment Rio de Janeiro, Brasil between 1999 and 2000, I often heard electronic dance music (EDM) group Eiffel 65’s song “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” played in various clubs. Setting the tone of the song, the introduction of the track states:
Yo, listen up, here’s the story
About a little guy that lives in a blue world
And all day and all night and everything he sees is just blue
Like him, inside and outside
Blue, his house, with a blue little window
And a blue Corvette, and everything is blue for him
And himself and everybody around
‘Cause he ain’t got nobody to listen (To listen, to listen, to listen)
While in Rio, I heard many opinions about the meaning of this song. Perhaps the most revealing was one Marine who likely used a form of confession through projection by explaining, “The chorus says, ‘I’m blue, I’m in need of a guy!” Who knows what that Marine was experiencing?
At any rate, the chorus actually states “I’m blue, da ba dee da ba di. Da ba dee da ba di, da ba dee da ba di,” as this course of gibberish is repeated throughout the track. Expanding upon the meaning of this song, one source states:
The song’s lyrics tell a story about a man who lives in a “blue world.” It also explains that he is “blue inside and outside,” which, alongside the lyric “himself and everybody around ‘cause he ain’t got nobody to listen,” and “blue are the feelings that live inside me” may indicate that the term blue represents his emotional state; however, the song also explains that a vast variety of what he owns is also blue, including his house and his car (“a blue Corvette”): different blue-coloured objects are also depicted on the single’s cover.
Clearly, there are differing interpretations regarding the meaning of this song. Addressing a colloquially perspective, I consider that the word “blue” is often associated with melancholy—suggestive or expressive of sadness or depression of mind or spirit.
Noteworthy, there are many examples regarding how a person may feel blue. For instance, after the dissolution of an intimate partner relationship you may experience sorrow. Of course, this form of episodic melancholy isn’t necessarily indicative of clinical depression.
In common parlance “chronic depression” is confused with major depressive disorder (MDD)—a mood disorder characterized by persistent sadness and other symptoms of a major depressive episode but without accompanying episodes of mania or hypomania or mixed episodes of depressive and manic or hypomanic symptoms.
After experiencing MDD symptoms since childhood, at some point historically I concluded that everything was “just blue,” as expressed in the Eiffel 65 song. For me, being blue was “normal”—conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern. According to one source:
Major depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States. For some individuals, major depression can result in severe impairments that interfere with or limit one’s ability to carry out major life activities […] An estimated 21.0 million adults in the United States had at least one major depressive episode [in 2021]. This number represented 8.3% of all U.S. adults.
Imagine the feeling (emotion and bodily sensation) you may’ve experienced following a breakup with a romantic partner. Now, envision that feeling multiplied several fold and maintained over the course of weeks, months, or even years. That’s what it’s like to be blue with MDD.
Even floral arrangements, of which I’m fond, lose their typical vibrant colors and appear drab to me. Although not literally blue, even beloved Madame Delbard roses morph into the same unappealing color as everything else when I experience a depressive episode.
During such instances, as expressed in “Blue (Da Ba Dee),” I live “in a blue world.” Prior to learning about Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I used to self-disturb about being blue. To better understand how this occurred, consider how the ABC model works.
REBT theory maintains that when an unexpected Activating event occurs and a person uses an irrational Belief about the situation, it’s one’s unhelpful attitude and not the undesirable circumstance that causes unpleasant emotional, bodily sensation, and behavioral Consequences.
Rather than remaining self-disturbed, an individual is invited to try Disputation which may lead to an Effective new belief that’s used in place of an unproductive self-narrative. With the ABC model, a person learns to stop needless suffering which is caused by unhelpful assumptions.
Although my MDD condition was organic in nature, I often made matters worse with a belief-consequence (B-C) connection. Using a line from “Blue (Da Ba Dee),” one could’ve concluded that my past self was blue, “‘cause he ain’t got nobody to listen” to complaints about life.
However, use of unaccommodating beliefs is what exacerbated my condition. As an example, I believed, “I shouldn’t be like this, because it’s awful having depression!” I was blue to begin with, though my rigid attitude caused me to move from melancholy to misery.
Favorably, along with the ABC model, REBT uses the technique of unconditional acceptance to relieve self-induced misery. This is accomplished through use of unconditional self-acceptance, unconditional other-acceptance, and unconditional life-acceptance.
Given these helpful REBT tools, I wasn’t blue in relation to having no one listen to me bitch, whine, moan, or complain about problems so many other people also endure in life. Rather, I self-disturbed and made an organic condition far worse than was necessary.
Drawing from the intro of “Blue (Da Ba Dee),” “Yo, listen up, here’s the story” about how not to upset yourself – even if you have a preexisting MDD condition. Use of an unhealthy B-C connection may not well-serve your interests and goals.
Simply because you’re blue doesn’t mean you should, must, or ought to make matters worse for yourself. If you’d like to know more about how to get out of your own way and stop moving from melancholy to misery, I’m here to try to help you discover the benefits of REBT.
If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As the world’s foremost EDM-influenced REBT psychotherapist—promoting content related to EDM, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
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