"1234" is a song from Feist's third studio album, The Reminder. It is Feist's most successful single to date. It was written with Sally Seltmann, a Melbourne, Australia singer/songwriter who records under the name New Buffalo. In an interview with Songfacts, Seltmann said:

I had been listening to Feist's album Let It Die. I thought my little song about lost love, and the hope to recapture what you once had, sounded too much like a Feist song for me to use for New Buffalo, so I shelved it. Then, in late 2005 I did a tour across Canada supporting Feist, and Broken Social Scene. After meeting Feist, I started to wonder whether she might like to do a cover of "1234," but I was too shy to tell her about it. At the last Broken Social Scene show, I plucked up the courage to tell her that I had written a song which I thought she might like to use. We went onto the tour bus, and I recorded a simple version of the song into her laptop, with guitar and vocals. To my surprise, she loved the song, and started playing it live.^[1]

In 2007, Feist was nominated for 50th Grammy Awards for the category Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. This song was #19 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.^[2]

Release

The song was digitally released through iTunes Music Store. It became famous subsequent to its use in an iPod nano commercial. It has been released in the United Kingdom, in Canada and in other countries digitally.

Chart success

Since its digital release, "1234" peaked at #2 at the US Hot Digital Songs. The single has also reached #8 in the US Hot 100, #10 at the US Pop 100, and #34 at the US Modern Rock Tracks chart.^[3] The single's unexpected success led to its release worldwide. In the UK it proved to become a huge hit, making it in the top 10 peaking at #8.^[4] It had a very successful release in Canada making it at number 3.^[5] The song has also entered the top 10 in other European countries. The single's success has made Feist famous globally and it has boosted the remaining sales. It also managed to peak at number 67 in the ARIA singles chart, as digital tracks were added from the 5th of November 2007 to the singles chart in Australia.

Charts

References