Song Exploder
Hrishikesh HirwaySong Exploder
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.
© Translucence
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.
© Translucence
In 2013, Warpaint starting working on their sophomore album. They retreated away from their home in Los Angeles to the nearby desert oasis of Joshua Tree, California. There, they wrote the song "Love Is to Die," and it was decided that it would be the...
Revisiting Jon Batiste's episode about his song "We Are."
Troye Sivan tells the story behind his song "One of Your Girls."
Beabadoobee breaks down her song "Coming Home."
Remi Wolf tells the story behind her song "Soup."
Sam Smith tells the story behind their iconic song "Stay With Me."
Fenne Lily tells the story behind her song "Lights Light Up."
Revisiting Vagabon's episode from 2020 about her song "Water Me Down."
Neil Finn of Crowded House tells the story behind the song "Don't Dream It's Over."
Lizzy McAlpine tells the story behind her song "Staying."
Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips take apart the song "Do You Realize??"
Revisiting Arooj Aftab's episode about her song "Mohabbat."
Lonnie Jordan from War and producer Jerry Goldstein tell the story behind the iconic song "Low Rider."
Shania Twain breaks down her hit song "You're Still The One."
Danny Brown tells the story behind his song "Y.B.P."
Rhiannon Giddens breaks down her song "You Louisiana Man."
Revisiting the 2021 episode about the Arlo Parks song "Black Dog."
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day tells the story behind the song "Basket Case."
In this expanded, deluxe edition of the very first episode of Song Exploder – which came out ten years ago – Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard of The Postal Service tell the story of how they made “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight.”
Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters tells the story behind the song "The Teacher."
Raye tells the story behind her song "Escapism."
Sampha tells the story behind his song "Spirit 2.0."
Paramore tells the story behind their song "Liar."
Kesha tells the story of how she made her song "Eat The Acid."
Molly Rankin and Alec O'Hanley from Alvvays tell the story of how they made "Archie, Marry Me."
Laufey tells the story of how she made "From The Start."
Revisiting Janelle Monáe's 2018 episode about her song "So Afraid."
Only Murders in the Building composer Siddhartha Khosla tells the story of making the show's theme music.
Local Natives tells the story behind their hit song "Dark Days."
Baker tells the story behind his hit song "Hell N Back."
Natalie Merchant tells the story behind her song "Sister Tilly."
Revisiting Julien Baker's 2018 episode about her song "Appointments."
Feist tells the story behind her song "In Lightning."
Madison McFerrin tells the story of her song "Run," featuring guest vocals from her father, Bobby McFerrin.
New Order tells the story of how they made their song "Blue Monday."
Revisiting Mobb Deep's 2020 episode about how they created the song "Shook Ones, Pt. II."
Yaeji tells the story of how she created her song "Passed Me By."
Seal breaks down his iconic song "Kiss from a Rose" alongside producer Trevor Horn.
Kenny Beats breaks down how he made his song "Still."
Revisiting Kimbra's 2018 episode about her song "Top of the World."
MUNA breaks down their song "What I Want."
Noah Kahan tells the story of how he created his hit song "Stick Season."
Sampa the Great, Angélique Kidjo, and producer Mag44 break down the making of "Let Me Be Great."
Ryan Lott of Son Lux breaks down "This Is a Life," the end credits song from the hit film ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once.’
Omah Lay breaks down his song, "Never Forget."
James McBride breaks down the opening passage of his 2020 novel Deacon King Kong.
Sam Beam of Iron & Wine breaks down "Flightless Bird, American Mouth."
George Saunders breaks down a passage from "Victory Lap," a short story from Tenth of December.
Santigold breaks down "Ushers of the New World."
Celeste Ng breaks down a passage from her best-selling novel, Little Fires Everywhere.
King Princess breaks down her song "Let Us Die," joined by her collaborators Ethan Gruska and Mark Ronson.
Tayari Jones breaks down a passage from An American Marriage.
Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco breaks down "Viva Las Vengeance."
Carmen Maria Machado breaks down a passage from her 2019 memoir, In the Dream House.
Björk breaks down her song Stonemilker.
Michael Cunningham breaks down a passage from the prologue of The Hours, his Pulitzer-winning novel.
Madonna breaks down her song "Hung Up," along with co-writer and co-producer Stuart Price.
Min Jin Lee discusses a passage from her novel Pachinko.
Kae Tempest and producer Dan Carey break down "Move."
Susan Orlean breaks down a passage from her best-seller, The Library Book.
Sudan Archives breaks down her song "Selfish Soul."
mxmtoon breaks down her song "Mona Lisa."
Monica Martin breaks down her song "Go Easy, Kid."
Maren Morris breaks down her song "Humble Quest."
Rick Astley tells the story of how "Never Gonna Give You Up" was made.
Kevin Morby breaks down his song "This Is a Photograph."
Arooj Aftab tells the story of making her song "Mohabbat."
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss tell the story of their Grammy-winning partnership.
Peaches breaks down her song "Boys Wanna Be Her."
Steve Reich breaks down the first movement of "Different Trains."
Mike Hadreas breaks down his song "Slip Away."
Sarah Kinsley breaks down "The King."
Brandi Carlile breaks down her song "You and Me On The Rock."
Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand breaks down the song "Take Me Out."
Joy Oladokun tells the story of making her song "Look Up."
Danny Elfman breaks down “What's This?” from the stop-motion animated musical The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Halsey takes apart her song "You Asked for This."
Hans Zimmer breaks down his score from "Dune."
Adam Granduciel breaks down the War On Drugs song "I Don't Live Here Anymore (feat. Lucius)."
Willow breaks down her song "Transparent Soul feat. Travis Barker."
A TED Talk on how making Song Exploder changed the way I think about connecting with people.
Through archival interviews, John Lennon tells the story of making his song "God."
Lucy Dacus takes apart her song "Thumbs."
Mustafa breaks down his song "Air Forces."
Lykke Li and producer Björn Yttling break down the song, "I Follow Rivers."
James Mercer breaks down The Shins' song "New Slang."
Guitarist and songwriter, Rick Nielsen, breaks down Cheap Trick's hit song "Surrender."
Fousheé breaks down her song "Deep End."
Aurora breaks down the making of her hit song "Runaway."
Ron & Russel Mael break down their 1974 hit "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us."
Arlo Parks breaks down her song "Black Dog."
Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons breaks down their song "Follow You."
Marie Ulven from girl in red breaks down her song "Serotonin."
Porter Robinson breaks down "Get Your Wish."
Lianne La Havas takes apart her song "Can't Fight."
Jon Batiste breaks down how he made the song "We Are."
Dave Bayley of Glass Animals breaks down their song "Heat Waves."
Sahsa Sloan breaks down "Until It Happens To You," along with producer King Henry.
PJ Morton breaks down his Grammy-winning hit "Say So," with duet partner JoJo.
HAIM breaks down "Summer Girl" and the emotional backstory of the song.
Yusuf / Cat Stevens tells the story of creating and re-creating his song "Father and Son."
Common breaks down "A Riot In My Mind," with guest vocals from Lenny Kravitz and Chuck D.
Jewel breaks down her song "You Were Meant For Me."
Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell break down the song "Everything I Wanted."
Phoebe Bridgers and Marshall Vore break down "Scott Street," and Phoebe discusses writer's block.
Chino Moreno of Deftones breaks down their song "Ohms."
Run the Jewels break down their song "JU$T."
Dua Lipa and co-writer Stephen Kozmeniuk break down the song "Levitating."
Selena Gomez and co-writers Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter break down "Lose You to Love Me."
Revisiting the 2018 episode about Ludwig Göransson's Oscar-winning score.
Kelly Lee Owens breaks down her song "On."
Black Pumas break down their song "Colors."
Matty and George of The 1975 break down "The Birthday Party."
Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee breaks down her song "Fire."
Khruangbin break down their song "So We Won't Forget."
Sascha Ring of Apparat and Anja Plaschg of Soap&Skin tell the story of making "Goodbye."
Havoc of Mobb Deep breaks down the legendary duo's classic hit.
Michael Kiwanuka breaks down the making of his song "Black Man in a White World"
Laura Les and Dylan Brady break down their song "Money Machine."
Laura Marling breaks down "Song for Our Daughter."
Kevin Parker of Tame Impala breaks down the song "It Might Be Time."
FKA twigs details the making of "Mirrored Heart."
Nathaniel Rateliff breaks down the title track of his new solo record, a song he wrote about his late friend and collaborator Richard Swift.
Eric Nam and producer Rabitt break down their song "Love Die Young."
Sophie Allison, aka Soccer Mommy, breaks down her song "Circle the Drain."
Dan Snaith of Caribou breaks down the creation of his song "Home."
Laetitia Tamko aka Vagabon breaks down her song "Water Me Down" along with co-producer Eric Littman
Semisonic's song "Closing Time" isn't just a song about last call at a bar. Grammy-winning songwriter Dan Wilson explains how it turned into something deeply personal.
Ezra Koenig breaks down Vampire Weekend's Grammy-nominated song "Harmony Hall."
Thao signs off as guest host, and we break down the Song Exploder intro music from this year.
Meek Mill and producer Don Cannon break down the making of the song "Trauma."
Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes breaks down her song "Kids in the Dark."
Melina Duterte of Jay Som breaks down the creation of her song "Tenderness."
Slipknot guitarist Jim Root breaks down the making of the song "Unsainted."
Raphael Saadiq breaks down the song "Kings Fall" along with his nephew Dylan Wiggins.
Clairo breaks down her song "Alewife."
Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes breaks down her song "Stay High."
Robyn breaks down how she made the song "Honey."
Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and producers Chris Messina and Brad Cook break down the song "Holyfields,"
Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein break down the Sleater-Kinney song “The Future Is Here.”
Denzel Curry and production duo FnZ break down their song “RICKY."
Jamila Woods and producer Slot-A break down their song "BALDWIN."
Adrianne Lenker and James Krivchenia of Big Thief break down their song "Cattails."
Sheryl Crow breaks down a new version of her song "Redemption Day," featuring vocals from the late Johnny Cash.
Musician and actor Jacob Anderson, aka Raleigh Ritchie, breaks down his song "Time in a Tree," with producer Grades
John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats breaks down the song "Cadaver Sniffing Dog" from their album "In League With Dragons."
Noel Hogan of The Cranberries breaks down the song "All Over Now" from the band's final album.
Panda Bear breaks down his song "Dolphin" with co-producer Rusty Santos.
Sharon Van Etten breaks down her song "Seventeen" along with her producer John Congleton.
Nakhane breaks down his song "New Brighton," which features guest vocals from Anohni.
Marcus Mumford and Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons break down their song "Beloved."
Phoebe Bridgers and Marshall Vore break down their song "Scott Street."
Michael Barbaro and musical duo Wonderly break down the theme for The New York Times' podcast The Daily
Michelle Zauner and Craig Hendrix of Japanese Breakfast break down the song "Boyish."
Hozier breaks down his protest anthem "Nina Cried Power," which features legendary gospel singer Mavis Staples.
Yo-Yo Ma breaks down his recording of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major: Prelude.
Thao Nguyen of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down breaks down her song "Astonished Man"
Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac breaks down "Go Your Own Way" from the band's seminal album "Rumours."
The theme music to Reply All gets taken apart by its composer, Breakmaster Cylinder.
Empress Of breaks down her song "When I'm With Him."
Big Boi of OutKast breaks down his song "Order of Operations"
Director and composer John Carpenter breaks down his iconic theme for "Halloween."
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