Girls may run the world, but on the pop charts these days, Beyoncé isn't exactly running things. The diva has cemented her position as arguably the world's top female pop star, so expectations have been high for the first song off her much-anticipated fourth album, 4. But so far, her new single, "Run the World (Girls)," hasn't had an overwhelming reception, at least not by Beyoncé's meteoric standards. And last week, it was announced that the video's official release was being delayed because the singer is "perfecting it."
The song was released to iTunes nearly a month ago and it hit the top 10 for a day, before descending again. It's currently languishing at #157 on the iTunes top 200. Compare this to peers Lady Gaga and Britney whose recently released first singles, "Born This Way" and "Hold It Against Me," both shot to #1 just hours after being released to iTunes and maintained those positions for several days.
In fact, the chart performance of "Run the World (Girls)" is looking similar to that of Christina Aguilera's "Not Myself Tonight," which also fizzled upon its debut last year. (Both "Run The World" and "Not Myself Tonight" sold 77,000 downloads in their first week of digital release, maybe not the most flattering parallel.)