You're listening to Song Exploder,
where musicians take apart their songs and piece by piece tell the story of how they were made.
I'm Rishikesh Hirway.
Seal is a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter from England.
His song, Kiss from a Rose, was first released in 1994 on his second album.
It was a huge hit, thanks in part to being featured in the movie Batman Forever.
It landed on the top 10 charts in multiple countries and eventually went quadruple platinum in the U.S.
And at the 1996 Grammys, it won Song of the Year,
Record of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
But Kiss from a Rose becoming a hit wasn't a foregone conclusion.
Seal almost didn't record it.
And when it was first released, it didn't make much of a splash.
But for this episode, the 250th episode of Song Exploder, Seal and his longtime collaborator,
producer Trevor Horn, told me the story of what it took to bring Kiss from a Rose to life.
My name is Seal and I'm a recording artist.
I wrote Kiss From A Rose around, it would have been 86, 87.
I was living in a squat.
I didn't have any money and I was just basically getting my act together,
trying to figure out who I was musically.
And Kiss From A Rose came out of that period when you sort of do things not for...