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 Herway.

Miskie's been making records since 2012. Her newest record, Puberty 2, came out in June 2016 and was critically acclaimed.

Pitchfork gave it best new music status. Her music's also been featured in the TV show Adventure Time.

In this episode, Miskie breaks down the song, Your Best American Girl, along with her longtime collaborator, Patrick Highland.

You're the one, you're the life who wanted us in Kaui, Christy.

My name's Miskie. My full name is Miskie Miyawaki.

I never grew up with musical instruments or with equipment to record. The way I learned to write

was just writing things down on paper and hearing it in my head and kind of hoping for the best.

And I don't work in a band, so I'm alone in my own head. So the lyrics and the vocal melody

are a king in my songs they always come first.

If I could, I'd be a little spoon and kiss your fingers forever more.

But big spoon, you have so much to do and I have nothing ahead of me.

The chorus came first. I was on a bed and I wrote down the words. Your mother wouldn't approve

of how my mother raised me, but I do, I think I do. And you're an all-American boy. I guess I couldn't

help trying to be your best American girl.

I was in love with somebody, but I just felt like our backgrounds or the places we come from

or how we were raised were just so completely different and it felt like something that couldn't

be overcome by love. I grew up very nomatically. I grew up moving around a whole lot and not just

in the US, but abroad. And my mother is Japanese and my father's American. And so I never grew up

with a sense of community. My sense of family is very different. I think I grew up more with a

sense of everything will be lost at some point. You have to prepare yourself to let go

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