Key Change: John Green on "You'll Never Walk Alone."

Hrishikesh Hirway· Host0:00

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 Hrishikesh Hirway. This is Key Change, where I talk to fascinating people about the music that changed their lives. My guest today is John Green.

John Green· Guest0:17

My name's John Green, and I'm a novelist and YouTuber.

Hrishikesh Hirway· Host0:22

John is the award-winning number one best-selling author of books, including Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars, Turtles All The Way Down, The Anthropocene Reviewed, and Everything Is Tuberculosis. John and his brother, Hank Green, have co-created a lot of projects together, including their massive YouTube channel, Vlogbrothers, and their podcast, Dear Hank and John. John also serves on the board of trustees for the global health nonprofit, Partners in Health. And when I asked John if there was a piece of music that changed his life, he knew the answer right away.

John Green· Guest0:54

It's a song by Gerry and the Pacemakers called You'll Never Walk Alone, which is a cover of a cover. It's from the musical Carousel, I think. And it's a little bit of a convoluted story how this song came into my life. But, you know, in thinking about your question, have you listened to a song that really changed your life, there are certainly songs that mean more to me than You'll Never Walk Alone.

Hrishikesh Hirway· Host1:19

Hmm.

John Green· Guest1:20

But there's no song that's changed my life more dramatically.

Hrishikesh Hirway· Host1:23

How do you parse the difference between those two things?

John Green· Guest1:26

Well, you know, my favorite band is a band called The Mountain