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.
This is Key Change, where I talk to fascinating people about the music that transformed their lives.
My guest today is James Acaster, a comedian, author, musician, and interviewer.
He's filmed comedy specials for HBO and Netflix, which are hilarious and high concept.
His musical project, Temps, has released an album and an EP.
He's written multiple books, including one about how the year 2016 was the greatest year for music.
James also co-hosts the food podcast, Off Menu.
with comedian Ed Gamble.
I've listened to more hours of Off Menu than any other podcast.
James and Ed don't know it, but they're my best friends.
And I have lured James out of the parasocial relationship that we have in my head and into this conversation with me to talk about a song that had a profound effect on his life.
So James, thank you so much for being here.
I love that.
I love that there's a parasocial relationship and a real one at the same time.
The parasocial one goes very deep.
Yeah, that guy, I can't compete with him.
I accept that you're his best friend and that's cool,
but I'm happy to have our relationship as well.