Podcasts · Music

Song Exploder

Hrishikesh Hirway

300 episodes

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.

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. Allison Russell - The Returner

    · 22 min · Episode 323

    Allison Russell is a singer and songwriter originally from Montreal and now based in Nashville. She’s a Grammy-winner and an eight-time Grammy nominee. And she’s also won Canada’s Juno Award, an Americana award, and…

  2. DJ Shadow - Mutual Slump

    · 16 min

    30 years ago, DJ Shadow released his debut album, Entroducing… and it changed my life. I listened to it so much. And when I first started Song Exploder, he was on my list of dream guests. And then 10 years ago, that…

  3. Elvis Costello - Alison

    · 27 min · Episode 322

    Elvis Costello is a singer and songwriter whose career spans five decades and over 30 albums. He’s a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriter Hall of Fame. He’s won Grammy Awards, Ivor Novello…

  4. Olivia Rodrigo - The Cure

    · 26 min · Episode 321 · Explicit

    Olivia Rodrigo is a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter. In June 2026, she released her third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. The day it came out, it broke streaming records on Spotify and Amazon…

  5. Natalie Merchant - Sister Tilly

    · 25 min

    Donate to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library here: https://donate.imaginationlibrary.com/ Donate to Women's Media Center, co-founded by Gloria Steinem, here: https://act.womensmediacenter.com/a/support-wmc - When I…

  6. Paula Cole - I Don't Want to Wait

    · 29 min · Episode 320 · Explicit

    Paula Cole is a singer, songwriter and producer from Massachusetts. She put out her first solo album, Harbinger, in 1994. Her second album, This Fire, came out in 1996 and was a real breakthrough; she was nominated for…

  7. Charli XCX - Camera

    · 23 min · Episode 319 · Explicit

    Charli XCX is a Grammy-winning artist who has been making music since she was a teenager. In July 2026, she released her eighth album, Music, Fashion, Film. It debuted at number 1 on the UK charts—her 4th album in a…

  8. Mitski - Your Best American Girl

    · 15 min · Episode 83

    In 2016, Mitski did an episode of Song Exploder about her song “Your Best American Girl.” She had just released her second album, Puberty 2. Later, Pitchfork named “Your Best American Girl” one of the top 10 best songs…

  9. Suki Waterhouse - Back in Love

    · 23 min · Episode 318 · Explicit

    Suki Waterhouse is a singer-songwriter, actress, and model from London. She released her first single in 2016, and her first album, I Can’t Let Go, in 2022, on Sub Pop. You might have seen her in the show Daisy Jones &…

  10. Key Change: Questlove on Prince

    · 26 min · Episode 15

    My guest today is Ahmir Thompson, aka Questlove, the drummer and founding member of The Roots, as well as an author, a DJ, and an Oscar-winning film director. A song that changed my life is “Double Trouble” by The…

  11. Metric - Victim of Luck

    · 23 min · Episode 317 · Explicit

    Metric is a band from Canada that was formed in 1998. They’ve won four Juno Awards, including Group of the Year. Rolling Stone included them in their list of the 50 Greatest Canadian Artists of All Time. In April 2026,…

  12. Hayley Kiyoko - Girls Like Girls

    · 27 min · Episode 316

    Hayley Kiyoko is a singer, songwriter, author, and director from Los Angeles. She was a child actor on Disney and Nickelodeon, and briefly in a girl group called The Stunners. But then, she started her career as a solo…

  13. Key Change: Tatiana Maslany on "Faceshopping" by Sophie

    · 20 min · Episode 14

    My guest today is the actor Tatiana Maslany. One of the things I find so compelling about Tatiana and her career is that the roles that she plays often contain multitudes—literally. She played over 10 different…

  14. Paul McCartney - Ripples in a Pond

    · 24 min · Episode 315

    Paul McCartney is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer whose career spans more than six decades. As a member of The Beatles and later Wings and then with his own solo albums, he’s simply one of the…

  15. Hot Chip - Boy From School

    · 26 min · Episode 314

    Hot Chip is a band from London made up of Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. Their second album, The Warning, came out in 2006. It was nominated for a Mercury Prize, and named one of…

  16. Key Change: Emma Straub on ‘69 Love Songs’ by The Magnetic Fields

    · 23 min

    My guest today is the bestselling author Emma Straub. Her books include 'This Time Tomorrow,' 'Modern Lovers,' 'The Vacationers,' and more. And with her husband, Michael Fusco, she co-owns the beautiful Brooklyn…

  17. The xx - Crystalised

    · 26 min · Episode 313

    The xx formed in 2005, when they were still in high school. They signed to the UK label Young, and put out their first album in 2009. It won the prestigious Mercury Prize, and was named one of the best albums of the…

  18. Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Father and Son

    · 19 min · Episode 200

    The legendary singer/songwriter Yusuf / Cat Stevens released his first album in 1967. He’s a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and his albums have sold millions. In 2020, he released Tea for the Tillerman², a…

  19. The Memory Palace: The Thundering Herd, The Vanishing American

    · 25 min

    Today, we're sharing an episode of Nate DiMeo's wonderful podcast, The Memory Palace, which helped inspire both Song Exploder, and a song on my upcoming album. So today, I want to present a kind of two-part story. The…

  20. Hurray for the Riff Raff - Alibi

    · 23 min · Episode 312 · Explicit

    Alynda Segarra is a singer songwriter from the Bronx. They formed Hurray for the Riff Raff in 2007, and since then, they’ve released 8 albums. Their most recent is The Past Is Still Alive, which came out in 2024. It…

  21. Jack Harlow - Say Hello

    · 26 min · Episode 311

    Jack Harlow is from Louisville, Kentucky, and started performing and releasing music in 2015, when he was in high school. In 2020, he released his first album, which went double platinum. He was nominated for a Grammy…

  22. Key Change: Baz Luhrmann on "Time After Time"

    · 22 min · Episode 12

    My guest today is Baz Luhrmann, the award-winning director whose films include Moulin Rouge!, Strictly Ballroom, The Great Gatsby, Elvis, and Romeo + Juliet. His newest film is EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, a…

  23. Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now

    · 24 min · Episode 310

    Thompson Twins originally formed in 1977 in Sheffield, in the UK. “Hold Me Now,” their iconic hit, came out as a single in November 1983, and eventually on their 1984 album, Into the Gap. That album went to number 1 in…

  24. Silvana Estrada - Como Un Pájaro

    · 26 min · Episode 309

    Silvana Estrada is a singer, songwriter, and producer from Veracruz, Mexico. She won the Latin Grammy for Best New Artist in 2022, and she’s been nominated for three others, including for her song “Como Un Pájaro,”…

  25. Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth

    · 29 min · Episode 243 · Explicit

    This week, I wanted to go back and revisit the episode that I made with Iron & Wine in the fall of 2022 about the song "Flightless Bird, American Mouth." And there are a couple of reasons. One, there’s a new Iron &…

  26. The Marías - No One Noticed

    · 25 min · Episode 308

    The Marías is a band from Los Angeles, made up of María Zardoya, Josh Conway, Jesse Perlman, and Edward James. They released their first EPs in 2017 and 2018, and their first album in 2021. But then, as you’ll hear,…

  27. Leon Thomas - Mutt

    · 25 min · Episode 307 · Explicit

    Leon Thomas is a singer, songwriter, producer, and actor. He’s nominated for six Grammys at this year’s Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, Best R&B Album, and Album of the Year for Mutt. Mutt is his second…

  28. Key Change: John Green on "You'll Never Walk Alone"

    · 26 min · Episode 11

    My guest today is John Green. John is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of books including 'Looking for Alaska,' 'The Fault in Our Stars,' 'Turtles All the Way Down,' 'The Anthropocene Reviewed,' and 'Everything…

  29. Hit-Boy and Nipsey Hussle - Racks In the Middle (feat. Roddy Ricch and Hit-Boy)

    · 22 min · Episode 306 · Explicit

    Hit-Boy is an award-winning producer and rapper from LA. He’s one of my all-time favorite producers, from “Backseat Freestyle” by Kendrick Lamar, to “Sicko Mode” by Travis Scott, to tracks he’s made for Beyonce, Nas,…

  30. Air - Playground Love (feat. Gordon Tracks)

    · 25 min · Episode 305

    The band Air is a duo from Versailles, France. Their first EP came out in 1995, followed by their critically acclaimed debut album, ‘Moon Safari,' which was an international hit. Then they made the music for the film…

  31. Key Change: Rian Johnson on Wagner's 'Das Rheingold'

    · 23 min · Episode 10 · Explicit

    My guest today is director Rian Johnson, which is exciting for me, because I’ve been a huge fan of his ever since seeing his first feature film, ‘Brick,' in 2006. Since then, he’s made six more feature films, including…

  32. Jessie Reyez - Goliath

    · 23 min · Episode 304 · Explicit

    Jessie Reyez is a singer and songwriter originally from Toronto. She's won two of Canada's Juno awards, and she's been nominated for a Grammy. In addition to writing her own music, Jessie's been a songwriter on tracks…

  33. Key Change: Demi Adejuyigbe on The Strokes

    · 24 min · Episode 9

    My guest today is Demi Adejuyigbe. One of the things that makes Demi so special is how hard it is to summarize him in an intro like this, because he has so many talents and applies them in so many different ways. He is…

  34. Clipse - The Birds Don't Sing

    · 27 min · Episode 303 · Explicit

    Clipse was formed in 1994 by two brothers: Gene Thornton Jr, aka Malice, and his younger brother Terrence Thornton, aka Pusha T. From the beginning, they’ve worked with producer Pharrell Williams, originally as part of…

  35. Buckingham Nicks - Frozen Love

    · 35 min · Episode 302

    On September 5, 1973, the first and only Buckingham Nicks album was released. It wasn’t a huge hit, but it was how the world was first introduced to the music of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, before they went on…

  36. Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way

    · 21 min · Episode 150

    Next week, I’m going to be publishing an episode with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham about the making of the song “Frozen Love,” from their only album as the duo Buckingham Nicks. That song is what eventually led…

  37. A-ha - Take On Me

    · 32 min · Episode 301

    "Take On Me" by A-ha is an iconic hit of the 1980s. It came out in October 1985 with an equally iconic music video that helped define the age of MTV. It hit #1 in the US and in countries all over the world. And it's…

  38. Lady Gaga - Abracadabra

    · 27 min · Episode 300

    Lady Gaga is a singer, songwriter, producer, and actress from New York. She’s one of the biggest artists in the world. She’s also won 14 Grammys, 2 Golden Globes, and an Oscar. And in March 2025, she released her sixth…

  39. Key Change: David Chang on "I See a Darkness"

    · 21 min · Episode 8 · Explicit

    My guest today is Chef David Chang. He founded Momofuku Noodle Bar in 2004. That was just the start of his incredible career – he’s opened several restaurants, winning awards and Michelin stars along the way, and…

  40. Ethel Cain - Nettles

    · 31 min · Episode 299

    Hayden Anhedönia has been making music under the name Ethel Cain since 2019. But it’s not just a band name or a moniker; Ethel Cain is a fictional character, a sort of alter ego that Hayden’s been creating and world…

  41. Sam Fender - People Watching

    · 33 min · Episode 298 · Explicit

    Sam Fender is a singer and songwriter from the town of North Shields in England. He won the Brit Award for Best Rock/Alternative Act twice. His most recent album is called People Watching, and just like his first two…

  42. Key Change: Jia Tolentino on "I Love You Always Forever"

    · 17 min · Episode 7 · Explicit

    My guest today is Jia Tolentino. Jia is the author of the essay collection Trick Mirror, which was named one of the best books of 2019 by The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Paris Review, and more. She won a…

  43. Jay Som - Tenderness

    · 18 min · Episode 172

    Melina Duterte goes by the name Jay Som. She’s a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She’s released three albums as Jay Som, and has produced, engineered, and mixed each one. Her third album, Anak Ko, came…

  44. Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin Down

    · 31 min · Episode 297

    Fall Out Boy is a band from Chicago that formed in 2001. Their first album, Take This To Your Grave, was a hit, especially in the punk rock world. When they put out their second album, though, in 2005, that was on a…

  45. Gigi Perez - Sailor Song

    · 25 min · Episode 296 · Explicit

    Gigi Perez is a singer and songwriter from Florida, and at 25 years old, she’s already had so many ups and downs in her music career. She started sharing her songs on TikTok, where they got enough attention that she…

  46. Key Change: Jason Schwartzman on the ‘Rushmore’ soundtrack

    · 23 min · Episode 6 · Explicit

    Jason Schwartzman, actor, songwriter, and musician, talks about how the soundtrack to 'Rushmore'—his first film—changed his life. I met Jason briefly in 2017, as he was leaving the room where I was supposed to…

  47. Goo Goo Dolls - Iris

    · 27 min · Episode 295 · Explicit

    Goo Goo Dolls formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, and by the time 1998 rolled around, they’d already had a pretty successful career. They’d released five albums, and one of their songs, “Name,” from 1995, had become a…

  48. Little Simz - Free

    · 27 min · Episode 294 · Explicit

    Little Simz is a rapper from England who put out her first album in 2015. She’s won the Mercury Prize, a Brit Award, and three MOBO awards. She also starred in the Netflix series Top Boy. Her most recent album is…

  49. Key Change: Shirley Manson on Siouxsie and the Banshees

    · 24 min · Episode 5 · Explicit

    My guest today is Shirley Manson. Since 1994, she’s been the lead singer of the band Garbage, and she is a bona fide rock icon. The two of us worked together on a different podcast called The Jump, which Shirley hosted…

  50. Anohni - 4 Degrees

    · 24 min · Episode 293

    Anohni is a singer and songwriter originally from England, who started putting out music in 2000. She’s released 6 albums, and won the Mercury Prize. She’s also been nominated for two Brit Awards, and an Oscar. For…

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