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 Rishi Keighi Kiyoko.

Haley Kiyoko is a singer, songwriter, author, and director from Los Angeles.

She was a child actor on Disney and Nickelodeon, and briefly in a girl group called The Stunners.

But then she started her career as a solo artist.

In 2015, she put out the EP This Side of Paradise, and one of the songs on it was Girls Like Girls.

She co-wrote it with Lily May Young and Owen Thomas, and it was produced by James Flanagan.

Haley co-directed the music video for it, and when the song in the video came out,

it was an absolute phenomenon.

It became a lesbian anthem.

Rolling Stone named it one of the most inspiring LGBTQ songs of all time.

Haley's Legion of Fans gave her the nickname Lesbian Jesus.

In 2023, Haley adapted the song into a best-selling coming-of-age novel,

and in June, 26, she made her feature film directorial debut

with the movie adaptation of Girls Like Girls.

So for this episode, Haley and I talked about how it all started

with the making of that song.

Saw your place, heard your name.

Gotta get with you.

Girl like girls, like boys do nothing new.

Girls like girls like boys do nothing new. Girls like boys do nothing new.

...