While I wish I had some really cool story for my introduction to this week's tune, like many other people it was its use in an iPod Nano commercial. Fortunately for me my coolness quotient was already at zero, so no harm, no foul....
[Blogger's Aside: It is pure coincidence that a Canadian artist was chosen the same week that Mark Carney and the Liberal Party kicked some serious ass in Canada's elections....]
Leslie Feist was born in Nova Scotia in 1976 and got her start in music by singing in choirs. She formed her first band in high school at the ripe old age of 15 and began her solo career (she's also played in the band Broken Social Scene) in earnest in 1999 with the release of her first album. Her next two albums would bring her some commercial success, and Feist has parlayed that into a varied career, having appeared on numerous albums (especially with artists from her native land --so many cool kids in the Great White North!), done some acting, and written songs for the silver screen. She's won eleven Juno Awards (including two for Artist of the Year) and been nominated for four Grammys. For her career, Feist has released six studio albums and ten singles. Feist released her latest album in 2023 and followed that up with a tour of Europe and North America.
Fun Fact: At the age of twelve, Feist was one of a thousand dancers who performed for the opening of the 1988 Calgary Olympics. She says her experience was the inspiration for the video to "1234."
"1234" was the second single from her third album, the tie a string around your finger kind of named LP, The Reminder. The song would reach #3 in Canada, and #8 in both the U.S. and the U.K. The album would hit #2 in our neighbor to the north, #16 in America, and #28 across the pond.
Beginning with a lightly strummed guitar and just a little banjo (emaycee fave!), Feist weaves her (and Australian Sally Seltmann, who originally wrote it and shared it with Feist who added some of her own lyrics) tale of the romantic hopes of our youth turning into reality with the coming of our wisdom as we get older. As the song progresses the music becomes fuller and fuller before finishing with gusto, a crescendo of horns that evoke the joy of falling in love. Feist's vocals are a treasure and carry the song to that special place where catchy songs dance with angels. I can honestly say that "1234" is as good a pop single as I've heard this century (we're twenty-five years in, folks), and as is wont to happen with my featured songs, one that has been a joy to listen to and to be my ear candy for the past week. A sweet piece of pop pie.
Lyric Sheet: "Old teenage hopes are alive at your door/Left you with nothing, but they want some more..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
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