THIS WEEK’S OBSESSION: STRONG SONGS PODCAST
I decided to go a slightly different direction for this week’s obsession. Instead of a song that I have on endless repeat, it’s a podcast about music that I’m absolutely obsessed with: Strong Songs. Strong Songs is a bi-weekly podcast that focuses on one song in each episode, breaking down the various wonderful things about the song that make it so strong. What I love about the podcast is that it’s both deeply technical — and for a music theory nerd like me, it’s very gratifying — but the host Kirk Hamilton also takes the time and energy to explain things for non-musicians too.
The show has gone beyond songs in its 3 years of life; there have been interviews, “Strong Covers,” and the occasional “mailbag” episode. The first one that I listened to was an examination of “Satisfied” from the musical Hamilton, and I was fascinated by the various details that the host had teased out of the music and various articles he’d read in preparation for the episode. I’ve listened to that song dozens of times and I still found it to be engaging and fascinating.
Kirk Hamilton’s enthusiasm and deep passion for all things musical shines through in each episode and reminds me how important it is to keep an open mind about new songs. I’m inspired by his depth of knowledge but also by his sheer persistence in answering questions and exploring the technical details behind some of these recordings despite his lack of an easy answer or expertise in a particular genre or artist.
If you’ve never listened to Strong Songs before, I highly recommend going through the episode list and finding a song that piques your interest. I started by just choosing episodes about songs I knew and loved, but I’ve become so enamored of the show that I’m listening to all of them, in order.
Recently I recommitted myself to supporting wonderful musicians when I can, so I decided to become a Patreon supporter of the podcast as well. I linked below to one of my favorite episodes: “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” by Billy Joel.
