Song 2

Five seasons, countless guests and an awful lot of unexpected detours later, Song 2 is back for a sixth season on RTL Today Radio.

The idea remains beautifully simple; the opening track gets you through the door, but track two is where an album has to convince you to stay. So, is the second song secretly the most important position on a record?

Over the years, Stephen “Steps” Lowe has tested the theory against some fairly serious evidence. Blur, Björk, Dua Lipa, Linkin Park, Fontaines D.C., Pink Floyd, De La Soul, The Vaccines, Foals and countless others have supplied the songs, while artists including Alice Cooper, Billy Bragg, Gavin Rossdale, Pete Doherty, Chino Moreno, Tim Burgess, Skin, Biffy Clyro's James Johnston and E from Eels have weighed in on the argument themselves.

Some swear by tracklisting.

Some think Song 2 has a special job to do. Others think the whole theory is nonsense. All of which rather helps the podcast.

Now Season Six is ready to start the argument all over again. More classic albums, more brilliant second tracks, more artists explaining how records are actually put together, and probably considerably more evidence that there is no universally accepted answer. Because in the age of playlists, algorithms and shuffle, the bigger question may no longer simply be whether Song 2 is the most important track on an album, but whether where we put songs still matters at all.

Song 2, Season Six. Coming to RTL Today Radio and RTL Play.

On this episode of Song 2, we’re making the case for why track two might be the most important slot on any album, and today’s example is Aretha Franklin an

The song appears on her 1968 album Aretha Now, released during the peak of her legendary Atlantic Records run, when everything she recorded felt deliberate and powerful. Interestingly, the song didn’t start with Aretha, it was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and first recorded by Dionne Warwick a year earlier.

The writers were inspired by the anxiety of the Vietnam War era, particularly the fear of loved ones being sent overseas, which adds surprising emotional depth to what sounds like such an upbeat pop classic.

“I don’t wake up trying to write the big song. I wake up trying to make a great album.”

Welcome back to Song 2, the podcast still fighting the good fight for track number two.

Five seasons in, we’ve converted a few believers, and this week might add another. With We Will Always Be The Way We Were on the horizon, Jack Savoretti joins the debate and, as it turns out, he doesn’t just agree with the theory… he’s been quietly living by it for years.

“It’s not my favourite song on the record… but it’s the point where you realise it’s not going to be another acoustic singer-songwriter album.”

Welcome back to Song 2, the podcast where we keep pushing the idea that track two might just be the album’s quiet MVP.

This time, it’s Heather Woods Broderick stepping into the debate, reflecting on how the second song on her record Labyrinth shifts expectations and resets the listener’s compass.

It’s less about being the “best”, and more about being the moment you realise what kind of journey you’re actually on.

“The second song is kind of like another opening track… if the first one doesn’t work, then the second one has to.”

Welcome back to Song 2, the podcast that continues to argue (no convince) that the second track on an album might just be the most important one.

This episode features a conversation Sarah Tapp had with Sprints (a little time back now) but timely, as it lands ahead of their show at Den Atelier, one of Luxembourg’s premier live venues.

The band were promoting their album All That Is Over, and what followed was a refreshingly honest look at the chaos, compromise and near-existential spirals that come with finalising a tracklist.

From vinyl-side constraints to anxiety-inducing sequencing, Sprints pull back the curtain on how albums are actually ordered, and whether track two really carries that much weight.

(image: David Wallis)

Nobody Knows might not be the biggest song on Hugo, but it’s the one that grounds the album and tells you exactly what kind of record you’re listening to

Welcome back to Song 2, the podcast that keeps flying the flag for track number two.

This week we rewind to 2022 and dive into Hugo, the Mercury-nominated album from British rapper and poet Loyle Carner.

Sitting second on the record is Nobody Knows, a track that doesn’t shout the loudest, but quietly defines everything that follows.

“If you listen to it as one piece, it’s almost like one song anyway… it’s about taking the listener on a journey.”

Welcome back to Song 2, the podcast where we try, sometimes stubbornly, mostly enthusiastically, to convince you that the second track on an album is either the best or the most important. Sometimes we win the argument. Often we don’t.

This time, we put the theory to Harry from Maruja, in a slightly chaotic pre-Christmas chat recorded from a car park in Germany with questionable Wi-Fi and strong opinions on tracklisting.

(image: Sony Music)

Harry doesn’t fully buy into the “second song supremacy” idea but what he does offer is something arguably more interesting: a defence of albums as cohesive journeys in a streaming world that increasingly fragments them.

"I truly believe that an album is a journey that needs to flow from first song to the last"

Bad Omen’s are having a bit of a renaissance at present with new music being drip fed and a new album touted for release in 2026, we caught up with Jolly from the band some time back – the full interview is available on RTL Play, on demand so get onto that after finishing up here. Jolly has some fantastic points on Song 2, unfortunately none of them support the theory… at all, but Jolly’s take on track-listing is a terrific listen. So go ahead and check it out. Joll of Bad Omen’s on the Song 2 theory….

Now, The Dark Side of the Moon really doesn’t need an introduction but let’s give it one anyway...

Released in 1973, it was the band’s eighth studio album and the one that took them from underground cult favourites to global superstardom.

Before that, Pink Floyd had spent the late 60s experimenting with long psychedelic jams and, yeah a fair bit of chemical inspiration which earned them a loyal following but not exactly mass appeal.

This week we are looking at Scottish musician Paolo Nutini, and his mega-smash Last Request.

Now, Paolo Nutini released his debut album These Streets in 2006, an instant hit which shot up the UK Albums chart, only to be topped by his next album Sunny side up which went straight to number one.

The song Last Request was the second tune on his debut and became a fan favourite immediately, receiving tons of global acclaim.

It’s a sweet song inspired by his relationship with his then girlfriend Teri Brogan, which became one of the defining songs of his career.