Song Exploder

By Hrishikesh Hirway

Music

What's Song Exploder about?

Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Each episode features an artist discussing a song of theirs, breaking down the sounds and ideas that went into the writing and recording. Hosted and produced by Hrishikesh Hirway.

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Omah Lay - Never Forget

11.16.2022

Omah Lay is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and producer. He’s one of the young stars of Afrobeats, the West African genre that's become a global phenomenon. His new album Boy Alone features a collaboration with Justin Bieber. But for this ...

Song Exploder episodes:

11.16.2022 Omah Lay - Never Forget Omah Lay is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and producer. He’s one of the young stars of Afrobeats, the West African genre that's become a global phenomenon. His new album Boy Alone features a collaboration with Justin Bieber. But for this ...
11.09.2022 Book Exploder: James McBride - Deacon King Kong The final episode of Book Exploder is with author James McBride. He was born in New York City and raised in Brooklyn’s Red Hook Houses housing projects until the age of seven. That housing project became the setting for his ...
11.02.2022 Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth In 2002, Sam Beam’s first album as Iron & Wine was released on Sub Pop Records. He’d given them a bunch of demos, and rather than have him re-record these songs, they released the demos themselves. Since then, he’s put ...
10.26.2022 Book Exploder: George Saunders - Victory Lap George Saunders has won the Booker Prize, and he’s the recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant. He won the Folio Prize for his collection of short stories, Tenth of December, which includes the short story “Victory Lap.” In this episode, ...
10.19.2022 Santigold - Ushers of the New World Santigold is a singer, songwriter, and producer. She’s put out 4 albums since 2008, and she’s been featured as a collaborator on songs with Jay-Z, Beastie Boys, Diplo, and more. In this episode, Santi takes apart her song "Ushers of ...
10.12.2022 Book Exploder: Celeste Ng - Little Fires Everywhere Celeste Ng is an American writer and author of three novels. Her second novel, Little Fires Everywhere, was published in 2017 and became a #1 New York Times bestseller. A television adaptation of the novel, starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry ...
10.05.2022 King Princess - Let Us Die King Princess is the project of Mikaela Straus, a singer, songwriter, and producer from Brooklyn. She’s a platinum-selling artist, and she put out her second album in July, 2022. The last track on the album is the song "Let Us ...
09.28.2022 Book Exploder: Tayari Jones - An American Marriage Tayari Jones is the author of four novels. She won the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Fine Arts from the Congressional Black Caucus. Her novel An American Marriage was an Oprah's Book Club ...
09.21.2022 Panic! At the Disco - Viva Las Vengeance Panic! at the Disco is the Grammy-nominated project of Brendon Urie, who originally started it as a band with his high school friends from Las Vegas in 2004. In the eighteen years since, Panic! at the Disco has won American ...
09.14.2022 Book Exploder: Carmen Maria Machado - In the Dream House Carmen Maria Machado is the award-winning author of In the Dream House, a memoir where each chapter has its own vivid style of storytelling. It won the Folio Prize in 2021, and was named one of the best books of ...
09.07.2022 Re-issue: Björk - Stonemilker (This is a re-issue of Björk’s episode from December 2015.) In January 2015, Björk released Vulnicura. She described it as "a complete heartbreak album." And in November, she released Vulnicura Strings, a companion album that stripped away the electronics. In ...
08.31.2022 Book Exploder: Michael Cunningham - The Hours Michael Cunningham is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours. He’s the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship. The Hours was published in 1998, and in addition to the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, ...
08.24.2022 Madonna - Hung Up Madonna is the best-selling female recording artist of all time. She has twelve albums that have gone multi-platinum. She’s won seven Grammys, and has had fifty songs reach number 1 on the Billboard Dance chart. That’s more number 1s than ...
08.17.2022 Book Exploder: Min Jin Lee - Pachinko Min Jin Lee is the author of the best-selling novel Pachinko. She’s a Guggenheim Fellow, and the recipient of South Korea's Manhae Grand Prize for Literature. In Pachinko, she tells a sweeping, multi-generational story of a Korean family that moves ...
08.10.2022 Kae Tempest - Move Kae Tempest is a songwriter, rapper, an award-winning poet, and best-selling novelist. They’ve been nominated for the UK’s Mercury Prize and Brit Award. Their most recent album is The Line is a Curve, which came out earlier this year. It ...
08.03.2022 Book Exploder: Susan Orlean - The Library Book Introducing a new miniseries: Book Exploder, where authors break down a passage from one of their books, and discuss the creative process that went into writing it. Every other week, in between episodes of Song Exploder, you’ll hear from a ...
07.27.2022 Sudan Archives - Selfish Soul Sudan Archives is a singer, songwriter, producer, and violinist. She grew up in Cincinnati before moving to LA. Her music has been called "viscerally gorgeous" by The Guardian, and "stunning" by Pitchfork, who gave her in ‘Best New Music.’ This ...
07.13.2022 mxmtoon - Mona Lisa Maia from mxmtoon released her first EP in 2018. She was 18 years old, recorded it in her bedroom, and self-released it. It went on to be streamed over 100 million times. This year, she put out her second album, ...
06.29.2022 Monica Martin - Go Easy, Kid Monica Martin is a singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Before that, she was based in Madison, Wisconsin, where she was part of the indie rock band Phox. She’s been a featured guest vocalist on songs by James Blake ...
06.15.2022 Maren Morris - Humble Quest Maren Morris is a Grammy-winning, multi-platinum artist. She’s also won multiple country music awards, including CMAs for Female Vocalist of the Year, and Single of the Year in 2020, but her feelings about the country music industry are kind of ...
06.01.2022 Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up Rick Astley is a singer and songwriter from England, whose debut single, "Never Gonna Give You Up," became an international smash hit. The song came out in July 1987 and won the BRIT Award for “British Single of the Year.” ...
05.18.2022 Kevin Morby - This Is a Photograph Kevin Morby is a singer and songwriter based in Kansas City. He’s put out seven albums since 2013, including his most recent one, This is a Photograph, which just came out last week. For this episode, I talked to Kevin ...
05.04.2022 Arooj Aftab - Mohabbat Arooj Aftab is a singer and composer based in Brooklyn. She grew up in Saudi Arabia, but her family is from Pakistan. And earlier this year, she made history by becoming the first Pakistani artist to win a Grammy. Her ...
04.20.2022 Partners: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss This week, I want to introduce you to another podcast that I make, called Partners. It’s a show about partnerships that was born out of Song Exploder. I’ve made a bunch of episodes with bandmates, or co-writers, or an artist ...
04.06.2022 Peaches - Boys Wanna Be Her Peaches is a musician, producer, and performance artist. She’s released six albums and in 2015, she won the Polaris Heritage Music Prize. Her fourth album, Impeach My Bush, came out in 2006, and features the song “Boys Wanna Be Her.” ...
03.23.2022 Steve Reich - Different Trains: America, Before the War Steve Reich is a legendary composer who was one of the pioneers of minimalism. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and the New York Times called him “America’s greatest living composer.” I had the incredible honor of getting ...
03.09.2022 Re-issue: Perfume Genius - Slip Away This week, I want to revisit one of my favorite episodes of Song Exploder, with Perfume Genius telling the story of making Slip Away. This episode originally came out in May 2017. The album the song’s from, No Shape, went ...
02.23.2022 Sarah Kinsley - The King Sarah Kinsley is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Her most recent release is an EP called The King, which came out in 2021. When she made it, she was in college in New York— and actually, at the moment, she ...
02.09.2022 Brandi Carlile - You and Me On the Rock (feat. Lucius) Brandi Carlile is a singer and songwriter from Washington State. She's released seven albums and won six Grammys. Her most recent album is In These Silent Days, which debuted at number one on Billboard’s folk and rock album charts. It ...
01.26.2022 Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out The band Franz Ferdinand formed in 2002, in Glasgow, Scotland. They’ve won the Mercury Prize and two BRIT Awards, they have five Grammy nominations, and they’ve sold millions of albums. One of their first singles is this song, “Take Me ...
01.12.2022 Joy Oladokun - Look Up Joy Oladokun is a singer and songwriter from Arizona, now based in Nashville, who’s been releasing music since 2015. Last year, she was named an Artist to Watch by NPR, Spotify, and Amazon, and she was #1 on Vogue’s list ...
12.15.2021 Danny Elfman - What’s This? (from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”) Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas came out in 1993. It’s a stop-motion animated musical, with music by legendary composer Danny Elfman. He’s won Emmys, a Grammy, and been nominated for four Oscars. His work includes the music for Tim ...
12.01.2021 Halsey - You Asked for This Halsey is an award-winning singer and songwriter from New Jersey. She's been nominated for two Grammys, and sold over a million records. In August, she released her fourth album, If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power, which was produced ...
11.17.2021 Hans Zimmer - Dune The movie Dune was released on October 21. It's the most recent adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic science fiction novel from 1965. The film was directed by Denis Villeneuve, and the score was written by Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer. Hans ...
11.03.2021 The War On Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore (feat. Lucius) The War on Drugs is a band from Philadelphia who formed in 2005. They won the Grammy for Best Rock Album in 2018. This year, they put out their fifth album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore. Adam Granduciel is the ...
10.20.2021 Willow - Transparent Soul feat. Travis Barker Willow Smith is a singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. She’s also a member of one of the most famous families in the world. From a very young age, she followed in the musical footsteps of her parents, Will Smith ...
10.13.2021 Hrishikesh Hirway TED Talk - What You Learn When You Listen Closely This summer, I gave a TED Talk at the TED Conference. My talk was about what you discover when you really listen. It was based on how making Song Exploder has changed the way I think about conversations and connecting ...
10.06.2021 John Lennon - God Earlier this year, I got an amazing email—the estate of John Lennon said that they have a treasure trove of audio material from his life, and they were wondering if I would be interested in making an episode around the ...
09.22.2021 Lucy Dacus - Thumbs Lucy Dacus is a singer and songwriter from Richmond, Virginia. She put out her first album in 2016, and in 2018 she formed the band boygenius with Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers. In June 2021, she released her third album, ...
09.08.2021 Mustafa - Air Forces Mustafa is a singer, songwriter, and poet from Toronto. He gained national recognition in Canada for his poetry. in 2016, he served on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Youth Advisory Council. Later, as a songwriter, he contributed to the Grammy award-winning ...
08.25.2021 Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers Lykke Li is a singer and songwriter from Sweden. She started releasing music in 2007, and for much of her career, she’s worked with producer Björn Yttling, who’s also a member of the Swedish band Peter Bjorn and John. Her ...
08.11.2021 The Shins - New Slang Singer, songwriter, and producer James Mercer of The Shins wrote “New Slang” when he was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It came out as a single and then he re-recorded it for The Shins’ debut album Oh, Inverted World, which ...
07.28.2021 Cheap Trick - Surrender The song "Surrender" by Cheap Trick was released in 1978. Rolling Stone called it the ultimate 70s teen anthem, and included it in their list of the greatest songs of all time. It’s been in a bunch of movies and ...
07.14.2021 Fousheé - Deep End The story of how the song "Deep End" came into existence and became a hit is kind of wild. One person who really didn’t see it coming is the person who created it, Fousheé. She’s a singer and songwriter from ...
06.30.2021 AURORA - Runaway AURORA is a singer and songwriter from Norway, who released her first EP in 2015, when she was 19 years old. It featured the song, "Runaway" and after it came out Aurora went on to win Norwegian Grammys for Best ...
06.16.2021 Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us Sparks are the brothers Ron and Russell Mael, a legendary duo from Los Angeles. Over the last 50 years, they’ve released 25 albums. They’ve collaborated with Giorgio Moroder and Franz Ferdinand, and they’ve influenced bands like Joy Division, Faith No ...
06.02.2021 Arlo Parks - Black Dog Arlo Parks is a singer and songwriter from London. In January 2021, she released her debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams. It hit number three on the UK charts, and she won this year’s BRIT award for Breakthrough Artist. Last year, ...
05.19.2021 Imagine Dragons - Follow You Imagine Dragons are a Grammy-winning band from Las Vegas. They’ve sold over 20 millions albums so far, and they were the most streamed band on Spotify in 2018. In March of this year, they released the song “Follow You." Singer ...
05.05.2021 girl in red - Serotonin Marie Ulven is a singer, songwriter, and producer from Norway, who makes music under the name girl in red. She just released her debut album in April 2021, but she already has a big fanbase and she’s gotten a lot ...
04.21.2021 Porter Robinson - Get Your Wish Porter Robinson is a Grammy-nominated electronic artist and DJ from North Carolina. In 2014, his first album hit #1 on Billboard’s Dance chart, and he was named MTVU’s Artist of the Year, and one of the top DJs in the ...

Older episodes

Song Exploder

What's Song Exploder about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Song Exploder episodes:

Omah Lay - Never Forget

Book Exploder: James McBride - Deacon King Kong

Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth

Book Exploder: George Saunders - Victory Lap

Santigold - Ushers of the New World

Book Exploder: Celeste Ng - Little Fires Everywhere

King Princess - Let Us Die

Book Exploder: Tayari Jones - An American Marriage

Panic! At the Disco - Viva Las Vengeance

Book Exploder: Carmen Maria Machado - In the Dream House

Re-issue: Björk - Stonemilker

Book Exploder: Michael Cunningham - The Hours

Madonna - Hung Up

Book Exploder: Min Jin Lee - Pachinko

Kae Tempest - Move

Book Exploder: Susan Orlean - The Library Book

Sudan Archives - Selfish Soul

mxmtoon - Mona Lisa

Monica Martin - Go Easy, Kid

Maren Morris - Humble Quest

Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up

Kevin Morby - This Is a Photograph

Arooj Aftab - Mohabbat

Partners: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Peaches - Boys Wanna Be Her

Steve Reich - Different Trains: America, Before the War

Re-issue: Perfume Genius - Slip Away

Sarah Kinsley - The King

Brandi Carlile - You and Me On the Rock (feat. Lucius)

Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out

Joy Oladokun - Look Up

Danny Elfman - What’s This? (from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”)

Halsey - You Asked for This

Hans Zimmer - Dune

The War On Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore (feat. Lucius)

Willow - Transparent Soul feat. Travis Barker

Hrishikesh Hirway TED Talk - What You Learn When You Listen Closely

John Lennon - God

Lucy Dacus - Thumbs

Mustafa - Air Forces

Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers

The Shins - New Slang

Cheap Trick - Surrender

Fousheé - Deep End

AURORA - Runaway

Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us

Arlo Parks - Black Dog

Imagine Dragons - Follow You

girl in red - Serotonin

Porter Robinson - Get Your Wish

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