Billie Eilish is true blue. Scratch that — according to her new album, she’s just blue now. If the last track on Hit Me Hard and Soft sounded like you’d heard it before, it’s because you probably have. “Blue” is the final version of one of Eilish’s most popular unreleased tracks, “True Blue.” The song’s gone viral on TikTok plenty of times before, and Eilish has even sung it live in concert. Now, eight years after she started teasing its existence, “Blue” has finally landed a permanent spot in her discography.
“True Blue” dates back to the beginning of Eilish’s career before she’d even released her first EP. According to setlist.fm, Eilish performed “True Blue” live five times in 2016 and 2017. SoundCloud recordings fed fans for years until an unreleased studio version of “True Blue” got leaked in February 2022.
Though that version never made it onto any of Eilish’s projects, a different version of the song might have been intended to come out on her sophomore album. Following Happier Than Ever’s release in July 2021, Eilish participated in a Q&A on her Instagram stories. She uploaded a picture taken in February 2021 of the album’s original tracklist, where a song called “Born Blue” was slated as track six. Eilish wrote that she “just couldn’t figure [this] out” and ultimately scrapped it. There are no leaked demos of “Born Blue” online, so it’s unknown if it’s related to “True Blue” or if it’s an entirely different track.
“Blue” from Hit Me Hard and Soft is definitely related to “True Blue;” the melody and chorus are the same. However, it isn’t a carbon copy of the original. The verses, production, and vocals are brand-new, and the second part of the song might even be from another unreleased track. Still, Eilish’s ride-or-die fans are feeling anything but blue now that the song is out in the world.
Eilish has grown up along with her listeners, so releasing a mature version of a fan-favorite feels really full circle. It’s a good day to be an OG Billie stan.