List of Song Exploder episodes
Song Exploder is an American biweekly music podcast originally hosted and created by Hrishikesh Hirway. Now hosted by Thao Nguyen and produced by Christian Koons, the show features musicians talking about the creative process behind an individual song while "deconstructing" the song into its component parts. The songs highlighted on the program have belonged to genres ranging from pop to hardcore punk to television theme songs, film scores and video game music. Song Exploder has explored the music of several notable artists, including Björk, Iggy Pop, MGMT, The Postal Service, Wilco, Spoon, and U2.
Song Exploder began on January 1, 2014. To date, 228 episodes have been released.
Episodes[]
2014 episodes[]
| No. | Artist | Song | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Postal Service | "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" | January 1, 2014 |
| 2 | The Album Leaf | "The Outer Banks" | January 15, 2014 |
| 3 | Yacht | "Plastic Soul" | February 1, 2014 |
| 4 | Baths | "Miasma Sky" | February 14, 2014 |
| 5 | Sea Wolf | "Kasper" | March 1, 2014 |
| 6 | Daedelus | "" | March 17, 2014 |
| 7 | Jeff Beal | "House of Cards (Main Title Theme)" | April 1, 2014 |
| 8 | Loren Bouchard | "Bob's Burgers" (Theme Song) | April 15, 2014 |
| 9 | Poliça | "Smug" | May 1, 2014 |
| 10 | Garbage | "Felt" | May 15, 2014 |
| 11 | Nite Jewel | "One Second of Love" | June 2, 2014 |
| 12 | Converge | "Dark Horse" | June 19, 2014 |
| 13 | The Microphones | "I Want Wind to Blow" | July 1, 2014 |
| 14 | Open Mike Eagle featuring Toy Light | "Dark Comedy Morning Show" | July 15, 2014 |
| 15 | Brian Reitzell | Watch Dogs ("Donovan") | August 6, 2014 |
| 16 | Spoon | "Inside Out" | August 19, 2014 |
| 17 | Anamanaguchi | "Prom Night" | September 2, 2014 |
| 18 | The Thermals | "No Culture Icons" | September 18, 2014 |
| 19 | RAC featuring Kele & MNDR | "Let Go" | October 1, 2014 |
| 20 | Valley Lodge | "Go" (Theme to "Last Week Tonight") | October 15, 2014 |
| 21 | Julia Holter | "Horns Surrounding Me" | October 29, 2014 |
| 22 | The Books | "Smells Like Content" | November 12, 2014 |
| 23 | Stars | "No One Is Lost" | November 26, 2014 |
| 24 | Tycho | "Awake" | December 8, 2014 |
| 25 | The National | "Sea of Love" | December 22, 2014 |
2015 episodes[]
| No. | Artist | Song | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Ghostface Killah | "The Battlefield" | January 6, 2015 |
| 27 | Blonde Redhead | "Penultimo" | January 19, 2015 |
| 28 | The Long Winters | "The Commander Thinks Aloud" | January 30, 2015 |
| 29 | Alexandre Desplat | "The Imitation Game" | February 9, 2015 |
| 30 | Jeremy Zuckerman | "The Legend of Korra" | February 20, 2015 |
| 31 | Warpaint | "Love Is to Die" | March 3, 2015 |
| 32 | White Hinterland | "Ring the Bell" | March 13, 2015 |
| 33 | How to Dress Well | "Pour Cyril" | March 25, 2015 |
| 34 | RJD2 featuring Kenna | "Games You Can Win" | April 1, 2015 |
| 35 | Toro y Moi | "Half Dome" | April 14, 2015 |
| 36 | My Morning Jacket | "Spring (Among the Living)" | April 23, 2015 |
| 37 | John Lunn | "Downton Abbey" | May 5, 2015 |
| 38 | Tune-Yards | "Water Fountain" | May 18, 2015 |
| 39 | Brian Tyler | "Avengers: Age of Ultron" | May 28, 2015 |
| 40 | Ramin Djawadi | "Game of Thrones (Main Title Theme)" | June 11, 2015 |
| 41 | Will Butler | "Anna" | June 22, 2015 |
| 42 | U2 | "Cedarwood Road" | June 29, 2015 |
| 43 | Sylvan Esso | "Coffee" | July 8, 2015 |
| 44 | Death Cab for Cutie | "El Dorado" | July 20, 2015 |
| 45 | Thundercat | "Them Changes" | July 30, 2015 |
| 46 | Unknown Mortal Orchestra | "Multi-Love" | August 10, 2015 |
| 47 | Health | "Stonefist" | August 18, 2015 |
| 48 | Best Coast | "Feeling Ok" | August 27, 2015 |
| 49 | American Football | "The One with the Tambourine" | September 3, 2015 |
| 50 | Joey Badass | "Hazeus View" | September 15, 2015 |
| 51 | The Magnetic Fields | "Andrew in Drag" | September 24, 2015 |
| 52 | Deradoorian | "A Beautiful Woman" | October 5, 2015 |
| 53 | Harry Gregson-Williams | "The Martian" | October 15, 2015 |
| 54 | Chet Faker | "Gold" | October 26, 2015 |
| 55 | The Arcs | "Put a Flower in Your Pocket" | November 5, 2015 |
| 56 | Youth Lagoon | "The Knower" | November 16, 2015 |
| 57 | Natalia Lafourcade | "Hasta la Raíz" | November 23, 2015 |
| 58 | Wilco | "Magnetized" | December 2, 2015 |
| 59 | Dustin O'Halloran | "Transparent (Main Title Theme)" | December 11, 2015 |
| 60 | Björk | "Stonemilker" | December 17, 2015 |
2016 episodes[]
| No. | Artist | Song | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | Courtney Barnett | "Depreston" | January 7, 2016 |
| 62 | MGMT | "Time to Pretend" | January 19, 2016 |
| 63 | Kelela | "Rewind" | January 28, 2016 |
| 64 | The New Pornographers | "Brill Bruisers" | February 8, 2016 |
| 65 | clipping. | "Work Work" | February 18, 2016 |
| 66 | KT Tunstall | "Suddenly I See" | March 1, 2016 |
| 67 | Oneohtrix Point Never | "Sticky Drama" | March 10, 2016 |
| 68 | Iggy Pop | "American Valhalla" | March 21, 2016 |
| 69 | Thao & the Get Down Stay Down | "Astonished Man" | April 5, 2016 |
| 70 | Weezer | "Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori" | April 18, 2016 |
| 71 | The Lumineers | "Ophelia" | April 28, 2016 |
| 72 | Carly Rae Jepsen | "When I Needed You" | May 9, 2016 |
| 73 | Busdriver | "Worlds to Run" | May 24, 2016 |
| 74 | Old Crow Medicine Show | "Dearly Departed Friend" | May 29, 2016 |
| 75 | Odesza | "Kusanagi" | June 14, 2016 |
| 76 | Chvrches | "Clearest Blue" | June 23, 2016 |
| 77 | Andrew Bird | "Roma Fade" | July 5, 2016 |
| 78 | Grimes | "Kill V. Maim" | July 14, 2016 |
| 79 | Band of Horses | "" | July 25, 2016 |
| 80 | Patrick Carney featuring Ralph Carney | "Bojack Horseman (Main Title Theme)" | August 4, 2016 |
| 81 | Andra Day | "Forever Mine" | August 15, 2016 |
| 82 | Tobacco | "" | August 25, 2016 |
| 83 | Mitski | "Your Best American Girl" | September 7, 2016 |
| 84 | Peter Bjorn and John | "Young Folks" | September 21, 2016 |
| 85 | Phantogram | "You Don't Get Me High Anymore" | October 6, 2016 |
| 86 | James Vincent McMorrow | "Get Low" | October 19, 2016 |
| 87 | Oathbreaker | "Second Son of R." | October 28, 2016 |
| 88 | Flatbush Zombies | "Bounce" | November 8, 2016 |
| 89 | Jóhann Jóhannsson | "Heptapod B" from the Arrival Score | November 17, 2016 |
| 90 | Angel Olsen | "Shut Up Kiss Me" | November 30, 2016 |
| 91 | DJ Shadow | "Mutual Slump" | December 8, 2016 |
| 92 | Justin Hurwitz | "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" | December 21, 2016 |
2017 episodes[]
| No. | Artist | Song | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 93 | Metallica | "Moth into Flame" | January 6, 2017 |
| 94 | Solange | "Cranes in the Sky" | January 16, 2017 |
| 95 | Nicholas Britell | "Little's Theme", "Chiron's Theme" and "Black's Theme" from the Moonlight score | January 30, 2017 |
| 96 | Dropkick Murphys | "Blood" | February 7, 2017 |
| 97 | Sara Watkins | "Without A Word" | February 17, 2017 |
| 98 | Bonobo | "Break Apart (feat. Rhye)" | February 28, 2017 |
| 99 | Sleigh Bells | "I Can Only Stare" | March 14, 2017 |
| 100 | Dirty Projectors | "Up In Hudson" | March 21, 2017 |
| 101 | Norah Jones | "Day Breaks" | March 30, 2017 |
| 102 | Gorillaz | "Andromeda (feat. D.R.A.M.)" | April 11, 2017 |
| 103 | Aimee Mann | "Patient Zero" | April 21, 2017 |
| 104 | Little Dragon | "Sweet" | May 2, 2017 |
| 105 | Perfume Genius | "Slip Away" | May 11, 2017 |
| 106 | Michael Kiwanuka | "Black Man in a White World" | May 22, 2017 |
| 107 | alt-j | "In Cold Blood" | June 2, 2017 |
| 108 | Michelle Branch | "Best You Ever" | June 14, 2017 |
| 109 | Fleet Foxes | "Mearcstapa" | June 22, 2017 |
| 110 | Goapele | "Stand" | July 5, 2017 |
| 111 | Slowdive | "Sugar for the Pill" | July 13, 2017 |
| 112 | Phoenix | "Ti Amo" | July 25, 2017 |
| 113 | Grizzly Bear | "Four Cypresses" | August 23, 2017 |
| 114 | St. Vincent | "New York" | August 15, 2017 |
| 115 | Maggie Rogers | "Alaska" | August 24, 2017 |
| 116 | Ibeyi | "Deathless" | September 5, 2017 |
| 117 | Rostam | "Bike Dream" | September 14, 2017 |
| 118 | Lorde | "Sober" | September 25, 2017 |
| 119 | The Killers | "Rut" | October 6, 2017 |
| 120 | TOKiMONSTA | "Bibimbap" | October 18, 2017 |
| 121 | Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein | "Stranger Things (Main Title Theme)" | October 26, 2017 |
| 122 | Rachel Platten | "Broken Glass" | November 8, 2017 |
| 123 | Lin-Manuel Miranda | "Almost Like Praying" | November 22, 2017 |
| 124 | Nine Inch Nails | "The Lovers" | December 6, 2017 |
| 125 | R.E.M. | "Try Not To Breathe" | December 20, 2017 |
2018 episodes[]
| No. | Artist | Song | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 126 | The Roots | "It Ain't Fair" (feat. Bilal) | January 3, 2018 |
| 127 | Julien Baker | "Appointments" | January 17, 2018 |
| 128 | Bleachers | "I Miss Those Days" | January 31, 2018 |
| 129 | Moses Sumney | "Quarrel" | February 14, 2018 |
| 130 | Natalie Prass | "Short Court Style" | February 28, 2018 |
| 131 | Ludwig Göransson | "Black Panther" | March 14, 2018 |
| 132 | Jack Johnson | "You Can't Control It" | March 28, 2018 |
| 133 | Kimbra | "Top of the World" | April 11, 2018 |
| 134 | Arcade Fire | "Put Your Money On Me" | April 25, 2018 |
| 135 | Liz Phair | "Divorce Song" | May 9, 2018 |
| 136 | Jon Hopkins | "Luminous Beings" | May 23, 2018 |
| 137 | Wolf Alice | "Don't Delete the Kisses" | June 6, 2018 |
| 138 | Yo La Tengo | "Here You Are" | June 20, 2018 |
| 139 | Jhené Aiko | "Sativa" (feat. Swae Lee) | July 4, 2018 |
| 140 | Action Bronson | "The Chairman's Intent" | July 18, 2018 |
| 141 | Neko Case | "Last Lion of Albion" | August 1, 2018 |
| 142 | Christine and the Queens | "Doesn't Matter" | August 15, 2018 |
| 143 | The Decemberists | "Once in My Life" | September 6, 2018 |
| 144 | Blood Orange | "Saint" | September 25, 2018 |
| 145 | Cat Power | "Woman" | October 5, 2018 |
| 146 | Janelle Monáe | "So Afraid" | October 15, 2018 |
| 147 | John Carpenter | "Halloween (Theme)" | October 26, 2018 |
| 148 | Big Boi | "Order of Operations" | November 5, 2018 |
| 149 | Empress Of | "When I'm With Him" | November 19, 2018 |
| Bonus | Breakmaster Cylinder | "Reply All" | November 26, 2018 |
| 150 | Fleetwood Mac | "Go Your Own Way" | December 5, 2018 |
| Bonus | Yo-Yo Ma | "Prelude, Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major" | December 20, 2018 |
2019 episodes[]
| No. | Artist | Song | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 151 | Hozier | "Nina Cried Power (feat. Mavis Staples)" | January 9, 2019 |
| 152 | Japanese Breakfast | "Boyish" | January 23, 2019 |
| Bonus | Wonderly | "The Daily (Theme)" | February 6, 2019 |
| 153 | Phoebe Bridgers | "Scott Street" | February 20, 2019 |
| 154 | Mumford & Sons | "Beloved" | March 6, 2019 |
| 155 | Nakhane | "New Brighton" (feat. Anohni) | March 20, 2019 |
| 156 | Sharon Van Etten | "Seventeen" | April 3, 2019 |
| 157 | Panda Bear | "Dolphin" | April 17, 2019 |
| 158 | The Cranberries | "All Over Now" | May 2, 2019 |
| 159 | The Mountain Goats | "Cadaver Sniffing Dog" | May 16, 2019 |
| 160 | Raleigh Ritchie | "Time in a Tree" | May 29, 2019 |
| 161 | Sheryl Crow | "Redemption Day" (feat. Johnny Cash) | June 12, 2019 |
| 162 | Big Thief | "Cattails" | June 26, 2019 |
| 163 | Jamila Woods | "BALDWIN" | July 10, 2019 |
| 164 | Denzel Curry | "RICKY" | July 24, 2019 |
| 165 | Sleater-Kinney | "The Future is Here" | August 7, 2019 |
| 166 | Bon Iver | "Holyfields" | August 21, 2019 |
| 167 | Robyn | "Honey" | September 4, 2019 |
| 168 | Brittany Howard | "Stay High" | September 18, 2019 |
| 169 | Clairo | "Alewife" | October 2, 2019 |
| 170 | Raphael Saadiq | "Kings Fall" | October 16, 2019 |
| 171 | Slipknot | "Unsainted" | October 30, 2019 |
| 172 | Jay Som | "Tenderness" | November 13, 2019 |
| 173 | Bat For Lashes | "Kids in the Dark" | November 27, 2019 |
| 174 | Meek Mill | "Trauma" | December 11, 2019 |
| Bonus | Hrishikesh Hirway | "Intro Theme and Thao's Farewell" | December 18, 2019 |
| 175 | Vampire Weekend | "Harmony Hall" | December 25, 2019 |
2020 episodes[]
| No. | Artist | Song | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 176 | Semisonic | "Closing Time" | January 15, 2020 |
| 177 | Vagabon | "Water Me Down" | January 29, 2020 |
| 178 | Caribou | "Home" | February 12, 2020 |
| 179 | Soccer Mommy | "Circle the Drain" | February 26, 2020 |
| 180 | Eric Nam | "Love Die Young" | March 11, 2020 |
| 181 | Nathaniel Rateliff | "And It's Still Alright" | March 25, 2020 |
| 182 | FKA Twigs | "Mirrored Heart" | April 8, 2020 |
| 183 | Tame Impala | "It Might Be Time" | April 22, 2020 |
| 184 | Laura Marling | "Song For Our Daughter" | May 6, 2020 |
| 185 | 100 gecs | "money machine" | May 20, 2020 |
| 186 | Mobb Deep | "Shook Ones, Pt. II" | June 17, 2020 |
| 187 | Apparat | "Goodbye (Theme from "Dark")" | July 1, 2020 |
| 188 | Khruangbin | "So We Won't Forget" | July 15, 2020 |
| 189 | Waxahatchee | "Fire" | July 29, 2020 |
| 190 | The 1975 | "The Birthday Party" | August 12, 2020 |
| 191 | Black Pumas | "Colors" | August 26, 2020 |
| 192 | Kelly Lee Owens | "On" | September 9, 2020 |
| 193 | Selena Gomez | "Lose You to Love Me" | September 23, 2020 |
| 194 | Dua Lipa | "Levitating" | October 7, 2020 |
| 195 | Run the Jewels | "Ju$t" | October 21, 2020 |
| 196 | Deftones | "Ohms" | November 4, 2020 |
| 197 | Billie Eilish | "everything i wanted" | November 18, 2020 |
| 198 | Jewel | "You Were Meant for Me" | December 2, 2020 |
| 199 | Common | "A Riot In My Mind" | December 16, 2020 |
2021 episodes[]
| No. | Artist | Song | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200 | Yusuf / Cat Stevens | "Father and Son" | January 13, 2021 |
| 201 | HAIM | "Summer Girl" | January 27, 2021 |
| 202 | PJ Morton | "Say So" (feat. JoJo) | February 10, 2021 |
| 203 | Sasha Sloan | "Until It Happens To You" | February 24, 2021 |
| 204 | Glass Animals | "Heat Waves" | March 10, 2021 |
| 205 | Jon Batiste | "We Are" | March 24, 2021 |
| 206 | Lianne La Havas | "Can't Fight" | April 7, 2021 |
| 207 | Porter Robinson | "Get Your Wish" | April 21, 2021 |
| 208 | Girl in Red | "Serotonin" | May 5, 2021 |
| 209 | Imagine Dragons | "Follow You" | May 19, 2021 |
| 210 | Arlo Parks | "Black Dog" | June 2, 2021 |
| 211 | Sparks | "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" | June 16, 2021 |
| 212 | AURORA | "Runaway" | June 30, 2021 |
| 213 | Fousheé | "Deep End" | July 14, 2021 |
| 214 | Cheap Trick | "Surrender" | July 28, 2021 |
| 215 | The Shins | "New Slang" | August 11, 2021 |
| 216 | Lykke Li | "I Follow Rivers" | August 25, 2021 |
| 217 | Mustafa | "Air Forces" | September 8, 2021 |
| 218 | Lucy Dacus | "Thumbs" | September 22, 2021 |
| 219 | John Lennon | "God" | October 6, 2021 |
| 220 | Willow | "Transparent Soul" (feat. Travis Barker) | October 20, 2021 |
| 221 | The War on Drugs | "I Don't Live Here Anymore" (feat. Lucius) | November 3, 2021 |
| 222 | Hans Zimmer | "Dune" | November 17, 2021 |
| 223 | Halsey | "You Asked For This" | December 1, 2021 |
| 224 | Danny Elfman | "What's This?" | December 15, 2021 |
2022 episodes[]
| No. | Artist | Song | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 225 | Joy Oladokun | "Look Up" | January 12, 2021 |
| 226 | Franz Ferdinand | "Take Me Out" | January 26, 2021 |
| 227 | Brandi Carlile | "You and Me on the Rock" (feat. Lucius) | February 9, 2021 |
| 228 | Sarah Kinsley | "The King" | February 23, 2021 |
External links[]
- Song Exploder Episode Guide at the podcast's official website
Categories:
- Lists of podcast episodes