Mike Elizondo (Part 2)

Mike Elizondo is back for Part 2, with more music and conversation. Plus, in a special segment, Norah takes listeners inside the creative process behind a song she recently wrote with Mike, sharing how their collaboration came together. Recorded 3/18/26. See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Norah Jones?

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

• 0:05Speaker 01

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• 1:02Norah Jones?

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• 1:36Speaker 03

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• 2:04Norah Jones?

  This episode is also available as video on YouTube. You can visit the Norah Jones channel and be sure to subscribe while you're there.

• 2:13Norah Jones?

  Hey, I'm Norah Jones, and today I'm playing along with Mike Elizondo, part two.

• 2:19Speaker 04

  I'm just playing along with you.

• 2:25Speaker 04

  I'm just playing along with you.

• 2:31Norah Jones?

  Welcome to the show. We're back with part two of Mike Elizondo. Welcome. I'm Nora. This is Sarah.

• 2:37Speaker 05

  Welcome back for part two of our incredible episode with Mike Elizondo, who is a Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, bass player. And he's, his work has touched so many different corners, and you hear a lot of it in this episode.

• 2:52Norah Jones?

  Yeah, it's so cool. He's a great bass player, too. It's so fun to play with him.

• 2:58Speaker 05

  He's really laid back, considering how legendary he really is.

• 3:02Norah Jones?

  He's maybe one of the nicest, coolest people I've ever met.

• 3:05Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 3:06Norah Jones?

  Yeah, just gonna leave it there.

• 3:07Speaker 05

  Said it.

• 3:08Norah Jones?

  Enjoy the episode with Mike Elizondo. Be sure to stay tuned after this episode, because we do something very cool. We break down one of the songs. That is a new song.

• 3:21Norah Jones?

  So do you feel like you're, you're just always working on something here and there?

• 3:27Speaker 06

  I mean, gratefully, I, you know, there's times, you know, there's, there's the, the struggling bass player that's in me always. It's like when the phone doesn't ring for like a few days, or there's no like new gigs, you start to worry like, okay, that's it. It's done. No one's calling me over again. But no, fortunately, there's things going on that I'm grateful to be a part of, that, that, you know, are a lot of fun. Some newer artists, you know, that aren't even signed, you know. Having my studio in Nashville affords me that luxury of just kind of-

• 3:59Norah Jones?

  Yeah, is that something you do?

• 4:00Speaker 06

  I love it. I really feel like there's a, just a instinct in me that just wants to be a part of artist development, you know?

• 4:08Norah Jones?

  That's pretty cool.

• 4:09Speaker 06

  Yeah, I don't know that, you know, artists are getting it maybe kind of how they used to get it when they-

• 4:14Norah Jones?

  They're not at all.

• 4:15Speaker 06

  You know, because it seems to me like, yeah, there was an era where artists would get signed, and then maybe there was an A&R person who kind of was like, okay, I'm just gonna let you develop for a year. And maybe, you know, once you feel like you've got your songs, then we'll make the record, right? And now you've got to have the record done, mixed, mastered, already viral before a label will look at you a lot of times.

• 4:35Norah Jones?

  You have to have a lot of followers for somebody to even consider signing you.

• 4:38Speaker 06

  A lot of times, for most of the cases. I'm, I'm starting to see some signs of, of, of labels going the other way, you know?

• 4:46Norah Jones?

  Because they've experienced that backfiring, right?

• 4:48Speaker 06

  Exactly.

• 4:49Norah Jones?

  It's not that they're not good, it's just that they aren't ready to go out and do a stadium.

• 4:52Speaker 06

  I think so, yeah. Or, and then also the fame might, they might not be cut out for the fame, you know? Like, they might be incredibly talented, but then when, when all this attention is thrust it on them, it's like, whoa, this isn't what I thought it was going to be, and it's, it's tough to sustain. But whatever the reason, you know, I, I just, I like the idea of like, having an artist feel like they can come in, experiment, try some things out if they don't have all the things figured out, you know? And give them an opportunity to like, you know, I'll give them my opinion, but ultimately, you just do something until I feel like maybe it's ready. And if they want to put it out independently, or if I can help introduce it to a label, I'm happy to do it.

• 5:35Speaker 06

  But it's a mixture of that, and then, yeah, mixture of, of all kinds of things. You know, a couple of movie things that I get to do where, you know, I get to maybe produce a song or two for a soundtrack or whatnot. So it's a pretty good variety.

• 5:48Norah Jones?

  That's great. And do you love going in with an artist or a band and doing like a whole album concept? Like, top to bottom? I feel like that's also something that not everybody does anymore. They get different guests and different producers on every song.

• 6:02Speaker 06

  It can be that way, yeah.

• 6:03Norah Jones?

  It can be that way.

• 6:04Speaker 06

  In certain genres, that's definitely the norm. I, yeah, I sort of managed to carve out a bit of a reputation of getting to do whole records. And, and I love that. I mean, to me, to be a part of the, even times where the demos are sent to me, and I can kind of chime in on little arrangement tweaks, or tempo, or keys. And then by the time we get in to make the record, you know, we're, we're jumping, you know, straight in.

• 6:29Norah Jones?

  Yeah.

• 6:30Speaker 06

  I, I love getting to be a part of the whole record.

• 6:32Norah Jones?

  Being part of, like, the big family of the, of the project.

• 6:36Speaker 06

  Exactly. And then see it, see it all the way to the finish line. And then, you know, but yeah, I'm, there's times where I maybe just produce a song or two, and I'm happy with that and when that works out. But I love, I think I do have a, and it's a part of me, the, the old school heart of me, where I've seen so many of my heroes, you know, who did the whole record. And, and so that's sort of where I, I try and aspire to be good enough to do that.

• 7:04Norah Jones?

  It's a fun thing to do.

• 7:04Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 7:05Norah Jones?

  And do you, you engineer much? Like, what's your engineering?

• 7:09Speaker 06

  It's not, I, I understand all the concepts of engineering and, and gear. I can get pretty deep. But I like having an engineer in the room with me, because I feel like there's just another collaborator, you know?

• 7:21Norah Jones?

  Yeah, and you get to sort of be musician and do that stuff a little more.

• 7:25Speaker 06

  You know, there's times where I'm working, like, maybe to start an idea, I might have, I work a lot in a program called Logic, and so Logic or a lot of my sounds are. And it's just a way to just quickly get a vibe or an idea, like, you know, here's some drum sounds that maybe provoke a certain style or, or sound, or a way of singing or writing, and do something like that in the box, what, you know, you'll call it, you know, where you're in the computer. But ultimately, when, if a song is gonna go to full production, I have an engineer right there with me, because inevitably here-

• 8:01Norah Jones?

  It's quicker, right?

• 8:02Speaker 06

  Yeah, I just like the idea of like, you know, he or she kind of throwing out an idea, or like, hey, or I might suggest something, but then they take it another step further and-

• 8:11Norah Jones?

  It's nice to just have another set of ears on the ground, right?

• 8:14Speaker 06

  Thousand percent. I love it.

• 8:15Norah Jones?

  That's nice. You're so open, and I love that.

• 8:18Speaker 06

  I, well, thank you.

• 8:19Norah Jones?

  Not everybody is.

• 8:20Speaker 06

  I think, I, I don't know. I mean, I've tried to be as efficient as I can, as, you know, to handle as many jobs as I can. But if there's a budget for it, and someone, you know, I mean, I've been in situations where there wasn't, and I had to do all of the roles. But yeah, I, I'd say an engineer is the top, you know, first hire once I, once I get, you know, asked to work, work on a record. And then, you know, and if it's a band, then great. And then if it's not, a lot of times I'm asked to sort of cast, find the other musicians that I think are gonna-

• 8:53Norah Jones?

  That's also a fun, fun way to do it. And then you get people in that you're comfortable with.

• 8:57Speaker 06

  Thousand percent.

• 8:58Norah Jones?

  That's cool. And then do you still keep your feet wet and like do gigs?

• 9:02Speaker 06

  I, I try. I try.

• 9:04Norah Jones?

  Because you said that you know a friend of mine, John Coward, in Nashville, and you play gigs with him.

• 9:10Speaker 06

  Man, I, anytime John calls, I'm like, yeah, I gotta make it work.

• 9:14Norah Jones?

  So you just keep, keep in it. It's like a way to keep, keep, keep your sort of muscles working, right?

• 9:21Speaker 06

  I just, well, at the, at the core, I just love to do it, and I love when there's other musicians that you get to, you know what that is like? You just, other people, it's, it's not only the music, but it's the, the, the people that you get to do it with.

• 9:34Norah Jones?

  Yeah.

• 9:34Speaker 06

  And, and obviously, yeah, John Coward is just incredible. When I, when I found out he was moving, I think he went from New York to Colorado, and then to, and ended up in Nashville. I think there's times where I just tell myself, like, you know, at some point, it's all gonna go away. You know, I'm not gonna get as many calls, or for whatever reason, right? But I want to be able to still play, you know?

• 9:55Norah Jones?

  Well, yeah, when you're old and like-

• 9:57Speaker 06

  Exactly, yeah.

• 9:58Norah Jones?

  Technology is becoming, everything's AI. At least you can still do a gig.

• 10:03Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 10:04Norah Jones?

  Have a great night playing music, speaking the language that you know.

• 10:08Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 10:09Norah Jones?

  You know?

• 10:09Speaker 06

  And this is, this might sound egotistic, but there are times where I'm in a meeting, maybe with some big wig at a label, and they're talking, you know, through their, their you-know-what. And, and in my mind, I'm like, yeah, but can you play through giant steps?

• 10:23Norah Jones?

  Well, I can't do that.

• 10:24Speaker 06

  No, no, but you know what I mean? Like, to me, it's kind of like my own little private way of just like, you know what? I know that I, I have some value, and there's something I can bring.

• 10:33Norah Jones?

  For sure.

• 10:33Speaker 06

  And, but yeah, being able to play some, do some changes on, on upright, you know? I'm gonna try and do that as often as I can, for as long as I can.

• 10:41Norah Jones?

  Yeah, you know what you're talking about.

• 10:42Speaker 06

  Yeah, a little bit, somewhat.

• 10:44Speaker 07

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• 11:13Speaker 03

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options, like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more.

• 11:41Norah Jones?

  So you actually requested one of my songs, which I'm really excited you asked for this song.

• 11:47Speaker 06

  Oh.

• 11:47Norah Jones?

  Alone with my thoughts. It's from my last album.

• 11:50Speaker 06

  Yeah, well, first of all, it's, I've been inspired by your music forever. Literally, note one, record one.

• 11:59Speaker 06

  And I just love the evolution and you're, you're, you're, you're just super bold and brave. And I feel like it's so cool that you just are always searching and pushing yourself. And I just, you know, so anytime you put out a new record, I'm like, okay, what's she doing this time?

• 12:13Norah Jones?

  Oh, that's cool.

• 12:14Speaker 06

  And, and this record came out and it's just from top to bottom. Like the thing, you and Leon just found this cool chemistry and sound and, you know, and the approach and the production. But I do remember hearing this song for the first time and was just like gutted. It's just so gorgeous and.

• 12:33Norah Jones?

  So sad.

• 12:34Speaker 06

  Yeah, I love it. I love a good sad song. I mean, I think it's something that, you know, I, I feel like I'm always having to try and find solutions to things, right? And, you know, and, and to me, it just felt like a way to just sort of like encourage those moments of quietness and, and, and to be okay to like question things and, and to like go, wow, okay. You know, and whether it's self, you know, evaluation or how I feel about other things, you know, spirituality, politics, any of the above, to like afford me those, those moments of like just shutting everything down

• 13:17Speaker 06

  and just being in my thoughts, you know? And, and, and it's just sort of, and I feel like we're so inundated with like looking at our phones and, and being distracted by things that, you know, we don't always afford ourselves the luxury of just shutting everything down for a little bit and, and analyze or think or, or, you know, imagine.

• 13:39Norah Jones?

  Yeah.

• 13:40Speaker 06

  All of that.

• 13:41Norah Jones?

  It's so true. I think I used to always have to have a book on a plane because I always had to, I couldn't bear the thought of having nothing to do for a few hours. This is before planes were full of TVs and earphones and everything.

• 13:53Speaker 06

  Right, right, right.

• 13:54Norah Jones?

  And now, when I'm on a plane, all I want to do is sit there and like think.

• 13:59Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 14:00Norah Jones?

  And I always come up with songs that way.

• 14:02Speaker 06

  Yep.

• 14:03Norah Jones?

  Because that's, now that you, we have, our minds are just so full of noise.

• 14:08Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 14:10Norah Jones?

  And like if you go for a walk, you always have to have your phones in. And so I started taking walks too without headphones and I try not to look at my phone. And that's when I come up with songs and I remembered, oh yeah, you have to have some space and quiet to come up with anything.

• 14:26Speaker 06

  Absolutely, yeah.

• 14:27Norah Jones?

  It's crazy.

• 14:28Speaker 06

  It's gonna be very, very helpful. It's very helpful for me for sure. So yeah, I think that's sort of, you know, when I heard the song, I mean, that's sort of what I kind of interpreted or took it.

• 14:38Norah Jones?

  That's cool.

• 14:39Speaker 06

  As an encouragement for that. But, and it's also sad and it's, you know, it's all the, it's all the above.

• 14:44Norah Jones?

  All right, cool.

• 14:45Speaker 06

  We should play that.

• 14:45Norah Jones?

  Yeah, let's try it.

• 15:13Norah Jones?

  Let's try a test.

• 15:17Norah Jones?

  Through space and through time.

• 15:24Norah Jones?

  I'll whisper your name. It'll bounce down the line.

• 15:37Norah Jones?

  Slowly explode into showers of shine.

• 16:29Norah Jones?

  To love from a distance, through waves of the air.

• 16:42Norah Jones?

  To know your sadness, your joys and your fears.

• 16:56Norah Jones?

  All running around without me to be near. Ooh.

• 17:15Norah Jones?

  Ooh. Ooh. Alone with my thoughts.

• 17:29Norah Jones?

  With my thoughts, I'm alone.

• 17:36Norah Jones?

  I toil away

• 17:42Norah Jones?

  and distract in a song.

• 17:49Norah Jones?

  I'll send you a prayer and a piece of home. My love is for you. Ooh. My love is for you. Ooh. Ooh.

• 19:21Norah Jones?

  That's pretty.

• 19:22Speaker 06

  Oh, come on.

• 19:23Norah Jones?

  It was like a prayer. That was so pretty.

• 19:26Speaker 06

  That was beautiful.

• 19:27Norah Jones?

  Thank you for playing on it.

• 19:29Speaker 06

  Oh, that was, yeah.

• 19:31Norah Jones?

  What a treat.

• 19:31Speaker 06

  It was fun.

• 19:32Norah Jones?

  Yeah.

• 19:32Speaker 06

  I'm glad, actually, the E, the E key was actually okay because it got the E string, you know?

• 19:37Norah Jones?

  Yeah. Oh, you have one of those basses with the extra.

• 19:39Speaker 06

  I do, yeah. This one.

• 19:42Norah Jones?

  How low does that go?

• 19:43Speaker 06

  It goes to low C.

• 19:44Norah Jones?

  Let's get it, let's get it crunk in here.

• 19:53Norah Jones?

  Wow. That's cool.

• 20:01Norah Jones?

  Oh, yes.

• 20:03Speaker 06

  Right.

• 20:04Norah Jones?

  Nice.

• 20:04Speaker 06

  You can go to D then. There you got the D, which is nice.

• 20:09Norah Jones?

  Oh, that's so cool.

• 20:13Norah Jones?

  What kind of bass is that?

• 20:15Speaker 06

  Uh, I know that it was a, it's a Czech bass, Czech Lithuania. But the maker, I don't know. I don't think, um, I purchased it, oof, probably in two thousand eight, two thousand seven.

• 20:28Norah Jones?

  Cool.

• 20:29Speaker 06

  Uh, from David Gage.

• 20:30Norah Jones?

  Oh, nice.

• 20:30Speaker 06

  Here in New York.

• 20:31Norah Jones?

  He's gotten a few shots out, shout outs on this show.

• 20:33Speaker 06

  Has he?

• 20:33Norah Jones?

  Yeah, I know him.

• 20:34Speaker 06

  Deservedly.

• 20:35Norah Jones?

  Yeah.

• 20:36Speaker 06

  And David was real gracious to me, actually. I was doing a couple of little promo shows with Fiona Apple.

• 20:45Norah Jones?

  Okay.

• 20:45Speaker 06

  And I produced her record, um, Extraordinary Machine. And so I had a day off in New York and I called up David and asked, I said, hey, look, I've got a cool plywood bass that I've had forever, but I might be ready to like invest in something a little bit more. And David was like, no problem, man, come over. And I went to this place and, and I'll never forget this, he was so cool. He put me on, in another room and he asked one of his employees to just bring me basses to play. I want to say I was there for at least six hours.

• 21:19Norah Jones?

  Oh, my God.

• 21:20Speaker 06

  Six hours and they would bring me basses and, and this one was the second one I played.

• 21:24Norah Jones?

  Okay.

• 21:25Speaker 06

  And so I just kept it there. I was like, if there was something special, I kept it there and they just kept bringing me basses. And then I'd go back to the, the Czech bass and more basses, more basses. After six hours of getting to do that.

• 21:36Norah Jones?

  Yeah.

• 21:38Speaker 06

  I essentially was like, I think this is the one and.

• 21:41Norah Jones?

  He's like trying on wedding dresses or something. Say yes to the bass. Did it already have the?

• 21:48Speaker 06

  It did not.

• 21:48Norah Jones?

  Okay, so they add that.

• 21:49Speaker 06

  I, I, yeah, I.

• 21:50Norah Jones?

  That's cool.

• 21:51Speaker 06

  I had, uh, an amazing Luther, uh, whose name is escaping me, uh, but, uh, he added this on.

• 21:59Norah Jones?

  That's great.

• 21:59Speaker 06

  And did a great job because it really looks like it was original, you know, the matched the patina and everything.

• 22:06Norah Jones?

  I love that.

• 22:07Speaker 06

  Yeah, so little extension thing kinda comes in handy every once in a while.

• 22:11Norah Jones?

  It was cool.

• 22:12Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 22:12Speaker 02

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A plus by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five star Trust Pilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 22:40Speaker 03

  ChatGPT for teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more.

• 23:08Speaker 06

  So.

• 23:08Norah Jones?

  Well, thanks so much for doing this. I wanted to try one thing since we were together yesterday and we wrote a song.

• 23:15Speaker 06

  We totally did.

• 23:16Norah Jones?

  So I kinda wanted to just, just sort of play it.

• 23:19Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 27:11Speaker 06

  That was just from yesterday.

• 27:13Norah Jones?

  I know.

• 27:13Speaker 06

  Where did that come from?

• 27:14Norah Jones?

  That's fresh, fresh pancake.

• 27:16Speaker 06

  That's fun to get to play that.

• 27:17Norah Jones?

  That's fun, yeah.

• 27:18Speaker 06

  Ah, man, there's some cool lyrics in there. After reading them over.

• 27:21Norah Jones?

  I changed a few of them.

• 27:22Speaker 06

  Yeah, yeah, I noticed a couple of little.

• 27:24Norah Jones?

  I changed a thousand lives.

• 27:27Speaker 06

  Oh, that's cool.

• 27:28Norah Jones?

  I don't know, I kinda like that.

• 27:28Speaker 06

  I think that's better.

• 27:29Norah Jones?

  Yeah, I think so too.

• 27:30Speaker 06

  From the lies.

• 27:31Norah Jones?

  Yeah, it's like, what are we lying about?

• 27:32Speaker 06

  Yeah, right. It's so cool.

• 27:34Norah Jones?

  Yay, okay.

• 27:35Speaker 06

  All right, well.

• 27:36Norah Jones?

  This is fine, well, we'll have to record it.

• 27:37Speaker 06

  Okay.

• 27:38Norah Jones?

  Awesome.

• 27:38Speaker 06

  Sign me up.

• 27:39Norah Jones?

  Thanks so much for doing this.

• 27:40Speaker 06

  Thank you so much, Nora.

• 27:41Norah Jones?

  I feel so close to you now because we spent all day.

• 27:43Speaker 06

  We did, I know. It was cool. Well, I'll come over tomorrow.

• 27:47Norah Jones?

  New friends, totally, totally.

• 27:48Speaker 06

  I appreciate the invite to do this.

• 27:50Norah Jones?

  Yeah, friends for life.

• 27:51Speaker 06

  Yep, let's do it.

• 27:52Norah Jones?

  Cool.

• 27:52Speaker 06

  Okay.

• 27:53Norah Jones?

  All right.

• 27:53Speaker 06

  Take care.

• 27:56Norah Jones?

  Thanks so much. That was fun.

• 27:58Speaker 05

  Yeah, so, so much fun that we thought we would break down, do something a little different.

• 28:02Norah Jones?

  Yes.

• 28:03Speaker 05

  And break down one of the songs in the episode because I personally would like to know more. Um, the last song that you guys played, which I, at the time that we did the session, didn't have a title yet. So what's the title? Do we have one?

• 28:16Norah Jones?

  The title of the song is Find My Way Back Home.

• 28:19Speaker 05

  Oh.

• 28:21Norah Jones?

  I know.

• 28:22Speaker 05

  I love that.

• 28:23Norah Jones?

  I know.

• 28:24Speaker 05

  The, the week that we did this session, the podcast session, Mike came here to work with you and collaborate with you for the first time.

• 28:31Norah Jones?

  Yeah.

• 28:32Speaker 05

  So how did that come together and like, what was that process like?

• 28:36Norah Jones?

  Well, he and I had been in touch from a Beach Boys tribute show that he was the MD on that I played on. So he reached out when we had Alessia Cara on because he produced that record.

• 28:45Speaker 05

  Oh, that's right, yeah.

• 28:46Norah Jones?

  And so a couple of those songs he wrote, or one of them, I can't remember. And so he was excited about it. And I said, oh, Mike, you should be on the podcast. You know, he's like, oh, that's nice. And if you'd ever want to write together, I come through New York a lot. I said, cool, let me know. And he did. And I don't really do that a lot. Like, I don't co-write with people unless we're doing something together already. Do you know what I mean?

• 29:11Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 29:11Norah Jones?

  Like, I feel like the, the culture of music, a lot of people do do that, especially in Nashville, like certain pop music is, is very common for people to just co-write all the time with a bunch of different producers or musicians. But that's not really how I usually work. But I'm, I'm open to it if it's the right person and I really like Mike a lot.

• 29:31Speaker 05

  Yeah. He seems very like, his catalog is so diverse that it seems like he's so flexible to like, be, you know, be like to compliment whoever he's working with in exactly the right way.

• 29:45Norah Jones?

  Yeah, which I learned more of. I didn't really realize that. I didn't realize how much stuff he had done, to be completely honest.

• 29:53Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 29:54Norah Jones?

  Until we started planning this. And I was kind of blown away and he happens to be the nicest person on the planet.

• 30:03Speaker 05

  So nice, yeah.

• 30:03Norah Jones?

  But not so nice that he's annoying, like, here, he'll also give you a zinger everyone was supposed to, you know?

• 30:08Speaker 05

  But he's very humble, which is like.

• 30:10Norah Jones?

  He's a great guy.

• 30:11Speaker 05

  It's, he's, it's unsuspecting how like legendary his catalog is, you know?

• 30:16Norah Jones?

  Yeah, he's just a great guy. And so he came over that afternoon and, and I want to get into it because it's cool, the way we did it, it's not how I usually get into stuff. You know, everybody has like a different way. Later that day, I had a barbecue and he came over for that too. And he came by himself and he got to know like our whole friend group and everybody was like, man, that guy's awesome. And, um, then the next day we did the podcast, so that's why in the podcast I say we spent a lot of time together.

• 30:43Speaker 05

  Real hang, yeah, a whole week.

• 30:45Norah Jones?

  Yeah, it was great.

• 30:46Speaker 05

  Did you have an idea ready when he came or was it completely from scratch?

• 30:50Norah Jones?

  He said, well, let me just open my, you know, laptop and, and play a couple little ideas I've been working on.

• 30:57Speaker 05

  Oh, cool.

• 30:58Norah Jones?

  And so that was like a good springboard. And one of them popped out because I really liked the bass part. He is a bass player, of course, so, yeah. And I really liked the bass part. It was like.

• 31:17Norah Jones?

  And I really liked it. And I just started singing over that. And then we started writing the song. Probably took like an hour and a half, hour.

• 31:27Speaker 05

  Do you feel like because he's a bass player and like where he was coming from with the idea is like a different, is different from the way you would normally approach a song?

• 31:36Norah Jones?

  Well, I normally don't start a song with a bass part, but it definitely happens occasionally. So I don't know. Do you want to hear the thing he played for me?

• 31:45Speaker 05

  Yes, I do.

• 31:46Norah Jones?

  Just to sort of hear where it came from?

• 31:48Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah, definitely. So this is what he sent you before you met?

• 31:50Norah Jones?

  He didn't, no, no. He just played it for me in the room when we were writing.

• 31:53Speaker 05

  Okay, cool.

• 31:54Norah Jones?

  It was just sort of a quick hot take.

• 31:56Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 32:05Norah Jones?

  And there's no bass yet.

• 32:14Norah Jones?

  Here comes the bass.

• 32:37Norah Jones?

  I like the slippiness of the bass. It's like

• 32:44Norah Jones?

  I like that.

• 32:46Speaker 05

  Okay, so then after that, after he played you that sort of demo of it, where did, how did the rest of the song take shape?

• 32:54Norah Jones?

  Well, then, then I said, I love that bass part. Let's check that out. And then we were kind of like, I was just kind of singing over that. And then we put it away and he started playing it on the bass. Cause it was like

• 33:14Norah Jones?

  and then it made sense to go

• 33:24Norah Jones?

  like, once we started changing the chords and he put, put it away and started playing it on bass. And we just played it together.

• 33:30Speaker 05

  Nice.

• 33:30Norah Jones?

  And then we're like

• 33:35Norah Jones?

  and the words were kind of coming at the same time, but you know, not many of them.

• 33:41Norah Jones?

  And then, once we kind of got the general form down, we started focusing on the words. And we didn't finish, finish them. We like got it pretty good, but there was a lot of negative stuff in it. And I think the next day I changed some lines to be more positive. Cause I don't know, I feel like the melody, it's very major, you know? And it's very like pentatonic, like

• 34:16Norah Jones?

  which has a vibe to me that's very like uplifting, hopeful, maybe a little like, you know, world music-y or something different, you know? There's just something joyful about those kinds of scales as opposed to like

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• 35:04Speaker 03

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• 35:32Speaker 05

  Anyway, that's interesting, though, that the, the chords and the melody sort of shaped the lyrics. Like, because you felt like it was uplifting, the lyrics went uplifting versus like, starting with, you know, if you sat down to write a dark song and you had like, had some dark lyrics, like, the song could have ended up somewhere totally different.

• 35:53Norah Jones?

  Yeah. I mean, I think some of the lyrics were already uplifting because it felt good. But then in the chorus, I felt like it was kind of bittersweet instead of just sweet.

• 36:04Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 36:05Norah Jones?

  And so I changed it to just sweet. Does that make sense? Like in the chorus, it was more like, we can't be together, though. And then I changed it to like, we're enjoying this, you know, we're, here we are together. And it was just kind of sweet.

• 36:20Speaker 05

  Yeah. So you're just kind of riding the wave of where the song took you. That's so cool.

• 36:25Norah Jones?

  And then it also like, it's funny hearing that demo because it's a lot faster than I remember it. Cause we played it kind of slow and I actually, I recorded it recently. And it's pretty slow, but you know, I like slow and I think it really works. But I was surprised to hear how fast that demo was. I kind of forgot.

• 36:45Speaker 05

  Well, I think that's probably a sign of a good song, that you could kind of speed it up and make it have one vibe or slow it down and change, change it all together.

• 36:54Norah Jones?

  Yeah. I mean, I love songwriting. It's so interesting to me where things come from and where they end up.

• 37:02Norah Jones?

  But also, you know, it's kind of a weird song for me, actually. And maybe that's because I wrote it with someone I've never worked with before and it went towards a place. Or maybe it's because I'm, I'm a lot more open lately to just going wherever.

• 37:19Speaker 05

  Right.

• 37:19Norah Jones?

  You know, like, I'm not trying to force anything into anything. I don't care anymore at this point. In a good way.

• 37:26Speaker 05

  And, and like, if you're working with somebody new and you just have like a different energy in your, in your space? Like, I guess my question would be, because you hadn't really worked with him, I mean, you hadn't worked with him in this way, did you feel like, like vulnerable about sharing your?

• 37:43Norah Jones?

  Oh, like my little lyric ideas?

• 37:45Speaker 05

  What do you think about this idea? Was it like, were you nervous about it or are you just open?

• 37:50Norah Jones?

  I don't think I was because he's so easygoing. And I also feel confident in what I have to say now as a, as a songwriter. Whereas when I was 20, I was really self-conscious. Also, my lyrics were probably much more cheesy. But like, also, I don't care anymore. I feel like if it's from the heart, it's, it's right. Even if it's a cliche, it doesn't matter. If it's overthought and like, like contrived, if you rewrite, you know what I mean? Then maybe it's not as good.

• 38:25Speaker 05

  I mean, I kind of feel like that's how it is in life, you know? Like, as you get older, like the thing we were talking about earlier about how just, we're old enough now to say what we want, our truth, you know? And we don't have to pretend to be one way or the other. And like, there's some, the honesty, there's, that's where it's, that's the special spot, right? Like, is where you're being honest and not trying to be something else.

• 38:52Norah Jones?

  Yes. And also, I think this song has, again, because of the way the scale

• 39:13Norah Jones?

  kind of had like a prayer-like quality to the scale. That's kind of what I was getting at when I said worldly. There's just something about that, that scale and that, those choice of, of chord progressions and notes. Where like, you don't really want to go to a bunch of different places. You kind of want to stay living in this place.

• 39:32Speaker 05

  Floating up in the clouds.

• 39:36Norah Jones?

  And then for that reason, usually when you get to the chorus, you go to like here or like here or somewhere different. But the chorus starts on the one again. So, so, so it's like

• 39:54Norah Jones?

  and then it still goes back to the one, which is where the verse started, which is this.

• 40:03Norah Jones?

  And which is weird for me. It's like, almost I wanted the chord to change, but at the same time, I didn't want it to move.

• 40:11Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 40:11Norah Jones?

  So I just sang higher. So it's like

• 40:31Norah Jones?

  and then it can change.

• 40:35Norah Jones?

  So that, for me, that was kind of a weird structure for a song to stay on the one chord for the chorus.

• 40:42Speaker 05

  Right.

• 40:42Norah Jones?

  Or stay on the same chord for the chorus even. And so when we recorded this, I recorded it with Leon Michaels, who produced my last couple albums. And he's like, I love this song. He's like, it's a weird song for you, though. It's like, it's like a different, I've never heard you write a song like that.

• 40:58Speaker 05

  Well, that's cool. Cause that means like, yeah, like Mike, the chemistry with you and Mike was something different, you know?

• 41:06Norah Jones?

  Thanks for listening to our show. The first song we did was Alone With My Thoughts, which was written by Norah Jones. Wait, that's me. From my album, Visions, released in 2024. I'm a dork. Last song we did was a new song that Mike and I wrote together. But I think it's called Find My Way Back Home. And it is unreleased as of yet, but will be released sometime, hopefully next year. Special thanks to Mike Elizondo for joining us today. Norah Jones is Playing Along is a production of iHeart Podcasts. I'm your host, Norah Jones. Recorded by Matt Marinelli. Additional recording and mix by Jamie Landry. Audio post-production and mastering by Jamie Landry.

• 41:51Norah Jones?

  Artwork by Eliza Frye. Photography by Sherwin Lenez. Produced by Norah Jones and Sarah Oda. Executive producers Erin Juan Kaufman and Jordan Runtog. Marketing lead, Alison Cantor-Greber.

• 42:08Speaker 02

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• 42:36Norah Jones?

  This is an iHeart Podcast.

• 42:39Norah Jones?

  Guaranteed human.