Listen closer to pop music, and hear how it moves us. Hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding. From Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

The chorus was once the part of the song that brought us together, the place we gathered to sing. Now it's the most engineered thirty seconds in music. Legendary producer Trevor Horn and hip-hop icon B-Real of Cypress Hill help Charlie and Nate answer the question on their minds: when everything's a hook, is anything a chorus?

CREDITS 

  Reanna Cruz: Producer 

  Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator 

  Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer 

  Dion Lee: Art Director 

  Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer 

  Nick Ripps: Video Editor 

  Nate Sloan: Host 

  Lissa Soep: Editor 

  Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers 

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ 

Songs discussed:

  Whitney Houston, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"

  Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A."

  Handel, "Hallelujah Chorus" (from Messiah)

  Pete Seeger, "Oh! Susanna"

  Odetta, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"

  Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, “Ain't No Mountain High Enough"

  Handel, "Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted" (from Messiah)

  Joan Morris & William Bolcom, "After the Ball" 

  Judy Garland, "Over the Rainbow"

  Chuck Berry, "Johnny B. Goode"

  The Beatles, “Yesterday"

  The Beatles, "Getting Better"

  Otis Redding, "Respect"

  Aretha Franklin, "Respect"

  Dolly Parton, "I Will Always Love You"

  Whitney Houston, “I Will Always Love You"

  The Buggles, "Video Killed the Radio Star"

  Prince, "I Wanna Be Your Lover"

  Katy Perry, "Roar"

  Calvin Harris, “I Need Your Love" (ft. Ellie Goulding)

  Britney Spears, "(You Drive Me) Crazy"

  Katy Perry, "Teenage Dream"

  Maroon 5, "Payphone" (ft. Wiz Khalifa)

  Bad Bunny, “Si Veo a Tu Mamá"

  Drake, "Janice STFU"

  Lykke Li, "I Follow Rivers"

  Charli xcx, "Rock Music"

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Switched on Pop

III. Preaching to the Chorus (ft. Cypress Hill and Trevor Horn)

Everybody sings the chorus, but superfans quote the verse. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate trace the verse from Shakespeare through opera to TikTok, and songwriter Audrey Hobert shares her philosophy of specific verses and anthemic choruses: you can't have the payoff without the setup.

CREDITS

Reanna Cruz: Producer

Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator

Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer

Dion Lee: Art Director

Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer

Nick Ripps: Video Editor

Nate Sloan: Host

Lissa Soep: Editor

Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠

Songs discussed:

  Aretha Franklin, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"

  Edward Meeker, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" 

  Third Eye Blind, "Semi-Charmed Life"

  Zara Larsson, "Lush Life"

  John Denver, "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

  Rick Astley, "Never Gonna Give You Up"

  William Smith, Choir of New College, Oxford, Edward Higginbottom, "Opening Versicles and Responses"

  Georges Bizet, Michel Plasson, Angela Gheorghiu, Les Éléments, Orchestre National Du Capitole De Toulouse, "Bizet: Carmen, WD 31, Act 1: Habanera. "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" (Carmen, Chœur)" 

  Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"

  Built to Spill, "Joyride"

  The Killers, "Mr. Brightside"

  Gracie Abrams, "That's So True"

  Audrey Hobert, "Sue me"

  Lizzo, "About Damn Time"

  Audrey Hobert, "Drive"

  Audrey Hobert, "Bowling alley"

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II. Justice for the verse (ft. Audrey Hobert)

Research says you judge a song in under half a second. So why write an intro at all? On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate kick off their Netflix launch and probe what an intro means in today's musical landscape, alongside special guests like Aaron Dessner (Taylor Swift, The National, Gracie Adams), who helps build the case for intros and reveals the surprising sources that form the opening sounds of Taylor Swift's “cardigan.”

CREDITSReanna Cruz: ProducerIris Gottlieb: IllustratorCharlie Harding: Host, Executive ProducerDion Lee: Art DirectorBrandon McFarland: Audio EngineerNick Ripps: Video EditorNate Sloan: HostLissa Soep: EditorZach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme ComposersSwitched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠

  Black Eyed Peas, "Let's Get It Started" 

  Shawn Colvin, “Sonny Came Home”

  Smashing Pumpkins, “Tonight Tonight”

  The Cranberries, "Zombie"

  The Cranberries, "Linger"

  Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe"

  Marvin Gaye, "Let's Get It On"

  Britney Spears, "Toxic"

  Miles Davis, "Freddie Freeloader"

  Robyn, "Call Your Girlfriend"

  The Beatles, "All You Need Is Love"

  Led Zeppelin, "Over the Hills and Far Away"

  Beyoncé, "Irreplaceable"

  Deee-Lite, "Groove Is in the Heart" 

  Missy Elliott, "Get Ur Freak On"

  Missy Elliott, "Work It"

  Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee, "Despacito" 

  Kendrick Lamar & SZA, "Luther"

  Mariah Carey, "Fantasy"

  The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again"

  Stevie Wonder, "Superstition"

  The Temptations, "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"

  Rick Astley, "Never Gonna Give You Up"

  Amy Winehouse, "Back to Black"

  The Supremes, "Baby Love"

  The Kinks, "Sweet Lady Genevieve"

  The Beach Boys, "God Only Knows"

  Erik Satie, "Je te veux"

  D'Angelo and the Vanguard, "Back to the Future (Part I)"

  The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey, "Closer"

  Sabrina Carpenter, "Taste"

  Benson Boone, "Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else"

  Stella Lefty, "Boston"

  Taylor Swift, "Cardigan" 

  The National, "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness"

  Taylor Swift, "So Long, London"

  Gracie Abrams, "Hit the Wall"

  Noah Kahan, "End of August"

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I. Let's get it started (ft. Aaron Dessner)

We're coming to the big screen with a four part mini series starting July 14th.
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Switched On Pop on Netflix July 14th

The quadrennial soccer (or fútbol, depending who you talk to) competition is upon us again: it's the FIFA World Cup! And while the World Cup is a sporting event, it's still relevant to the folks at Switched On Pop, because every four years a new crop of songs gets commissioned to drum up excitement for the games. 

This year, the official song is by Shakira and Burna Boy, but offerings from IShowSpeed and a madcap collaboration between Andrea Bocelli, David Guetta, EJAE, and Megan Thee Stallion also play the field. On this episode, Charlie and Nate explore them all – including the Shakira and Ricky Martin songs of World Cups past.

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

Songs discussed:

  Shakira, Burna Boy – Dai Dai

  K'NAAN – Wavin' Flag

  Tears For Fears, Lil Baby – The World Is Yours To Take

  Jelly Roll, Carin León – Lighter

  LISA, Anitta, Rema – Goals

  Jung Kook, BTS – Dreamers

  Andrea Bocelli, David Guetta, EJAE, Megan Thee Stallion – DNA (More Than A Game)

  IShowSpeed – Champions (WC 26)

  Ed Sheeran – Shape of You

  Shakira, Carlinhos Brown – La La La (Brasil 2014)

  Shakira, Freshlyground – Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)

  Zangalewa – Zangalewa

  Ricky Martin, Pablo Flores – The Cup of Life (La Copa de la Vida)

  Ricky Martin – Livin' La Vida Loca

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Music only the World Cup could make

In case you missed it:

How does a country of 10 million people dominate the global pop charts? From ABBA's Eurovision breakthrough to Max Martin's methodical hit-making, Sweden has quietly engineered a kind of musical Stockholm Syndrome: we've all become captives to their sound without realizing it. Listen to the crystalline vocal production and deceptively simple chord progressions in tracks by Lisa, Childish Gambino, and Addison Rae, and you're hearing Sweden's sonic fingerprint so embedded in pop's DNA that it now defines the genre itself. We sit down with pop star Zara Larsson to explore her love letter to home, "Midnight Sun." As she puts it, "I can't really leave Sweden; it's just something that's like a part of who I am," a sentiment that captures how Swedish pop's unique blend of melancholy and euphoria, mirroring the country's extreme seasons, has made us all willing prisoners of Stockholm's musical empire.

Songs Discussed

Lisa ft. Rosalia: "New Woman"

Childish Gambino: "Lithonia"

Addison Rae: "Fame Is a Gun"

Bleachers: "Tiny Moves"

Zara Larsson: "Midnight Sun"

Robyn: "Show Me Love"

Robyn: "Dancing on My Own"

Nirvana: "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

Brad Mehldau: "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

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You might also like

The Moment it Changed

The Hot Hits with Nic & Loren

Discover new favourites

Music

Vox Media Podcast Network