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 2 of 6

  1. Jeff Tweedy - How to Write One Song

    · 44 min · Explicit

    In June 2024, I got to go to the Solid Sound Festival in North Adams, Massachusetts, which is organized by the band Wilco. I performed some of my new songs, and I got to interview Jeff Tweedy, the lead singer of Wilco,…

  2. Lorde - Sober

    · 20 min · Episode 118 · Explicit

    Lorde is a Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer. Her second album, Melodrama, debuted at number one on the charts in June 2017 – five months before her 21st birthday. In this episode, Ella breaks down…

  3. Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World

    · 28 min · Episode 292 · Explicit

    Tears for Fears is a duo formed in 1981 in Bath, England by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. They’ve sold over 30 million albums, starting with their first, The Hurting, which went to number one in the UK. But it was…

  4. Lizzo - Still Bad

    · 29 min · Episode 291 · Explicit

    Lizzo is a Grammy- and Emmy-winning singer, rapper, songwriter, and actress. She’s been putting out music since 2013, and her last two albums both went platinum. Her fifth album, Love In Real Life, comes out this…

  5. Key Change: Samin Nosrat on Ani DiFranco

    · 27 min · Episode 4 · Explicit

    My guest today is my friend Samin Nosrat, the author of the bestselling, award-winning cookbook Salt Fat Acid Heat, and the host and executive producer of the hit Netflix show that's based on it. Her second cookbook…

  6. MJ Lenderman - You Don't Know The Shape I'm In

    · 28 min · Episode 290

    Jake Lenderman plays and records under the name MJ Lenderman. He put out his first album in 2019. In addition to his solo work, he’s been a member of the band Wednesday, and he’s also featured on the Waxahatchee hit…

  7. Key Change: James Acaster on OutKast

    · 25 min · Episode 3

    My guest today is James Acaster, a comedian, author, musician, and interviewer. He's filmed comedy specials for HBO and Netflix, which are hilarious and high concept. His musical project, Temps, has released an album…

  8. Lucy Dacus - Thumbs

    · 24 min · Episode 218 · Explicit

    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…

  9. Theodore Shapiro - Severance (Main Title Theme)

    · 23 min · Episode 289

    The TV show Severance debuted on Apple TV+ in February 2022. It was created by writer Dan Erickson, and developed into a series by director and executive producer Ben Stiller. He directed the pilot and most of the…

  10. Key Change: Hanif Abdurraqib on The Clash

    · 31 min · Episode 2 · Explicit

    My guest today is Hanif Abdurraqib, a poet, cultural critic, and New York Times bestselling author of books like They Can't Kill us Until They Kill Us, Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest, and A Little…

  11. Sasami - In Love With A Memory (feat. Clairo)

    · 30 min · Episode 288

    Sasami is a singer, songwriter and producer who grew up in Los Angeles. But now she’s based in Northern California, and as you’ll hear in this episode, that’s significant. Sasami went to school for classical French…

  12. of Montreal - Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games

    · 28 min · Episode 287

    Kevin Barnes started of Montreal in 1996 in Athens, Georgia. The Sunlandic Twins came out in 2005; it was their seventh album. And I remember when that album came out, how it felt like they were suddenly everywhere.…

  13. Key Change: Sophie Thatcher on Elliott Smith

    · 22 min · Episode 1 · Explicit

    Key Change is a new conversation series within Song Exploder, where I talk to fascinating people about the music that's transformed them. My first guest is Sophie Thatcher, an actor and musician whose credits include…

  14. Yola - Symphony

    · 24 min · Episode 286 · Explicit

    Yola is a singer/songwriter and actress. She released her solo debut album in 2019, which was nominated for 4 Grammys, including Best New Artist and Best Americana Album, and Rolling Stone named it one of the best…

  15. Adrianne Lenker - Sadness As a Gift

    · 26 min · Episode 285

    Adrianne Lenker is a singer and songwriter. She’s the lead singer of the critically acclaimed and beloved band Big Thief, and her work as a solo artist is also critically acclaimed and beloved. Her most recent solo…

  16. Sabrina Carpenter - Please Please Please

    · 32 min · Episode 284 · Explicit

    Sabrina Carpenter is a singer, songwriter, and actress. She had a huge year with her album Short N Sweet, which came out in August 2024. It debuted at #1, and went platinum within a month. At the upcoming Grammys,…

  17. Gracie Abrams - I Love You, I'm Sorry

    · 26 min · Episode 283 · Explicit

    Gracie Abrams is a singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. She started putting out music in 2020, and in June 2024, she put out her second album, The Secret of Us. She was nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist,…

  18. Waxahatchee - Fire

    · 18 min · Episode 189

    Katie Crutchfield is a singer and songwriter from Birmingham, Alabama. She’s been making music under the name Waxahatchee since 2010. Her fifth album, Saint Cloud, came out this past March. Pitchfork named it Best New…

  19. Le Tigre - Deceptacon

    · 28 min · Episode 282 · Explicit

    Le Tigre originally formed in 1998. They released their self-titled debut album in October 1999. Spin Magazine called it one of the best albums of the past 30 years, and Pitchfork called it one of the best albums of…

  20. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Our House

    · 26 min · Episode 281 · Explicit

    In 1968, singer and songwriter Graham Nash joined David Crosby and Stephen Stills to form the supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash. All of them had already been in successful bands: Graham Nash had been in The Hollies;…

  21. Pharrell Williams - Piece By Piece

    · 15 min · Episode 280

    Pharrell Williams is—well, let me just say, he’s a big reason why Song Exploder exists. He’s a singer, songwriter and producer, and in the 90s, when I first heard the work that he was doing with the Neptunes, which was…

  22. Jon Batiste - We Are

    · 24 min · Episode 205

    Jon Batiste is a pianist, songwriter, and composer from New Orleans. He’s been nominated for multiple Grammys, and just won the Golden Globe and got an Oscar nomination for the soundtrack to the Pixar film Soul, which…

  23. Troye Sivan - One of Your Girls

    · 24 min · Episode 279 · Explicit

    Troye Sivan is a singer and songwriter from Australia. He’s been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Grammys, and he’s won four of Australia’s ARIA awards. His song “My My My!” was a #1 hit on the Billboard Dance Chart,…

  24. Beabadoobee - Coming Home

    · 16 min · Episode 278

    Beabadoobee is an award-winning singer and songwriter from England who’s been releasing music since 2017. Her third album is called This Is How Tomorrow Moves. It came out in August 2024 and went to #1 on the UK…

  25. Remi Wolf - Soup

    · 19 min · Episode 277

    Remi Wolf is a singer and songwriter originally from Palo Alto, California. She’s been releasing music since 2019. She performed at Coachella in 2023, and has toured with Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, and Paramore. Her second…

  26. Sam Smith - Stay With Me

    · 23 min · Episode 276 · Explicit

    Sam Smith is a Grammy and Oscar-winning singer and songwriter from London, England. Their first album, In the Lonely Hour, came out in 2014. It went quintuple platinum in the US, and the biggest hit from that album is…

  27. Fenne Lily - Lights Light Up

    · 22 min · Episode 275

    Fenne Lily is a singer and songwriter from Dorset, England. She released her first album in 2018, but I didn’t find her music until 2023, when she put out her third album, Big Picture. The album she released in between…

  28. Vagabon - Water Me Down

    · 19 min · Episode 177

    Last year, Vagabon released her third album, Sorry I Haven’t Called, which I’ve been listening to a lot. So I wanted to revisit an episode that I recorded with her back in 2020, about her breakout song "Water Me Down."…

  29. Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over

    · 22 min · Episode 274

    Crowded House formed in 1985 in Melbourne, Australia. They’ve released eight albums, including their most recent one, Gravity Stairs, which came out last month. But on their very first album, they had a big hit with…

  30. Lizzy McAlpine - Staying

    · 18 min · Episode 273

    Lizzy McAlpine released her first album in 2020, and her second album in 2022. And between the two, she’s had a lot of success. One of her songs, "Ceilings," was a viral TikTok hit, and has been streamed over half a…

  31. The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??

    · 20 min · Episode 272

    The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983. Over the last four decades, they’ve put out 16 albums. In 1999, they put out their album The Soft Bulletin, and that brought them a new level of success. And then, in…

  32. Arooj Aftab - Mohabbat

    · 25 min · Episode 231

    One of the songs I keep coming back to is “Mohabbat” by Arooj Aftab. It’s really special to me. I listen to it all the time. I’ve been listening to it so often that I wanted to revisit Arooj's episode about it. In the…

  33. War - Low Rider

    · 18 min · Episode 271

    The band War formed in 1969, in Long Beach, California. “Low Rider” is from their 1975 album Why Can’t We Be Friends? The song was a hit as soon as it came out. It went to #1 on the Billboard R&B charts. And it’s just…

  34. Shania Twain - You're Still The One

    · 18 min · Episode 270

    Shania Twain is a singer and songwriter from Ontario, Canada. She’s the only female artist to have had three consecutive Diamond albums — albums that have sold over ten million copies. Actually, her 1997 album Come On…

  35. Danny Brown - Y.B.P. (feat. Bruiser Wolf)

    · 18 min · Episode 269 · Explicit

    Danny Brown started his career in 2007 by handing out mixtapes in Detroit, where he’s from. In 2011, he put out his acclaimed second album, XXX. Since then, he’s collaborated with rappers like Kendrick Lamar, A$AP…

  36. Rhiannon Giddens - You Louisiana Man

    · 20 min · Episode 268

    Rhiannon Giddens has released five solo albums since 2015. Before that, she was a member of the Grammy-winning band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops. She is now also the artistic director of the Silkroad Ensemble, the…

  37. Arlo Parks - Black Dog

    · 20 min · Episode 210 · Explicit

    I wanted to revisit an episode about one of my favorite songs from 2021, “Black Dog” by Arlo Parks. A few months after this episode originally came out, Arlo Parks won the Mercury Prize for Album of the Year. She was…

  38. Green Day - Basket Case

    · 21 min · Episode 267 · Explicit

    Green Day is a punk band from the East Bay in California. Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool have been playing music together since 1987. They’ve sold over 90 million records. They’ve won four Grammys,…

  39. The Postal Service - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Deluxe Anniversary Edition)

    · 27 min · Episode 266

    The first episode of Song Exploder, about The Postal Service song "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight," came out 10 years ago, in January 2014. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the podcast, we're doing what bands…

  40. Foo Fighters - The Teacher

    · 33 min · Episode 265 · Explicit

    For the last episode of the year, I got the chance to drive up to Northridge, California, and have a conversation with Dave Grohl. We talked about the Foo Fighters song “The Teacher,” which is an epic, 10-minute-long…

  41. Raye - Escapism (feat. 070 Shake)

    · 21 min · Episode 264 · Explicit

    Raye is a singer, songwriter and producer from London. Besides being an artist in her own right, she’s also been a songwriter for other artists since she was a teenager. She’s co-written songs for Beyoncé, Charli XCX,…

  42. Sampha - Spirit 2.0

    · 20 min · Episode 263

    Sampha is a singer, songwriter and producer from London. His first album, Process, won the Mercury Prize in 2017. He’s collaborated with artists like the XX, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and Solange. If you saw the Song…

  43. Paramore - Liar

    · 21 min · Episode 262

    I think one of the hardest things there is to do in music is to write a love song that expresses something real. I read that the song "Liar" by Paramore was written by Hayley Williams, the singer of the band, about her…

  44. Kesha - Eat The Acid

    · 21 min · Episode 261 · Explicit

    Kesha is a singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. She put out her first song in 2009, and it was a huge #1 hit in the US and 13 other countries. She’s had 10 top-ten singles on the Billboard charts, and sold millions…

  45. Alvvays - Archie, Marry Me

    · 22 min · Episode 260

    Alvvays is from Toronto. Their first album came out in 2014, and they’ve put out two other albums since then. In Canada, they’ve won the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year, and all three of their albums have…

  46. Laufey - From The Start

    · 18 min · Episode 259

    Laufey is a singer and songwriter originally from Iceland. She studied piano and cello as a kid. When she was 15, she was a guest soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. She went to Berklee College of Music in…

  47. Janelle Monáe - So Afraid

    · 19 min · Episode 146

    This summer, in June 2023, Janelle Monáe put out her fourth album, The Age of Pleasure. Listening to it made me want to revisit her Song Exploder episode, from 2018. One thing on Song Exploder that I personally love is…

  48. Siddhartha Khosla - Only Murders in the Building (Main Title Theme)

    · 16 min · Episode 258 · Explicit

    The "Skip Intro" button first got introduced to us through Netflix in 2017, and, I know, a lot of people use it – including me. But, if I can get into old-man, back-in-my-day mode for a second, I have so much fondness…

  49. Local Natives - Dark Days

    · 24 min · Episode 257

    It can be hard to be in a band, or really, in any kind of group where there’s creative collaboration, and you’re supposed to act like it's a democracy. Because what do you do with an idea that you love, if nobody else…

  50. Bakar - Hell N Back

    · 22 min · Episode 256 · Explicit

    Bakar is a singer and songwriter from London. In 2018 he put out his first release, Badkid. A year later, he put out the EP, Will You Be My Yellow?, and this September, he’s releasing his second full-length album,…

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