Song Exploder (Netflix)

[Greg]

I thought tg or KB already reviewed this show, but it's not popping up on the search.

I just checked out one episode to see what it was like. I chose the REM 'Losing My Religion' episode. I always liked that song. I thought the video was really good. It was good to see the band talk about the song. Turns out they haven't broken up. They just don't make music anymore. Bill Berry looks healthy. The farm must be agreeing with him.

They do go in depth on the song from how did Peter Buck choose the Mandolin to isolated tracks of Michael Stipe singing. If you are familiar with the Band, there isn't a lot of new information. One tidbit I did pull was that Stipe is now happy with the fame. I always thought he hated that part.

It's a good way to spend thirty minutes on a song. None of the other songs on the list jumped out at me.

[thatguy]

I have not yet seen the Netflix version of this show. I have however been listening to the podcast version for about a year after my son-in-law recommended it. Each episode is pretty different, depending on the artist and the song. Some get into their inspiration and the “history” of the song, while others focus more on recording/production. The musical styles are broad, which is nice, but there are some that just don’t interest me. I’ll give the Netflix version a try at some point. I’m curious to see how visuals benefit the story as audio-only works pretty well.

—tg

[Greg]

I caught another episode last night. This time they covered Lin Manuel Miranda's song 'Wait for it' from Hamilton. It was a good history of the Aaron Burr song. Looking back I didn't think too much of this song at the time, but watching this episode gave me a greater appreciation of that tune. I might have to go and watch the whole thing again to see/hear it in context.

Best part about the episode was it was filmed in George Washington's New York headquarters and the spot where Miranda wrote a lot of the musical. They also showed an amazing clip where Miranda played from his cel phone the creation of the first chorus of the lyrics for the song.

It's fun to see the creations of these songs. I will probably check out Trent Reznor's "Hurt" next.