Song vs. Song is a music podcast hosted by Todd Nathanson (Todd in the Shadows) and Alina Morgan. Each episode has them comparing two commonly-themed songs within the same era with the winner being chosen by a vote on Patreon.
Songs Reviewed By Song vs. Song
Regular Episodes
- "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi vs. "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey
- "Wonderwall" by Oasis vs. "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day
- "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice vs. "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer
- "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor vs. "Stayin' Alive" by The Bee Gees
- "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper vs. "Material Girl" by Madonna
- "Africa" by Toto vs. "Down Under" by Men at Work
- "Yeah!" by Usher vs. "Umbrella" by Rihanna
- "Kokomo" by The Beach Boys vs. "Got My Mind Set On You" by George Harrison
- "My Heart Will Go On" by Céline Dion vs. "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston
- "Smooth" by Santana ft. Rob Thomas vs. "All-Star" by Smash Mouth
- "Space Oddity" by David Bowie vs. "Rocket Man" by Elton John
- "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" by My Chemical Romance vs. "Sugar, We're Goin Down" by Fall Out Boy
- "Get the Party Started" by P!nk vs. "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson
- "Boys Don't Cry" by The Cure vs. "This Charming Man" by The Smiths
- "Let It Be" by The Beatles vs. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones
- "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam vs. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden
- "Back That Azz Up" by Juvenile vs. "Thong Song" by Sisqo
- "With or Without You" by U2 vs. "Every Breath You Take" by The Police
- "Hey Ya!" by Outkast vs. "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley
- "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette vs. "Criminal" by Fiona Apple
- "What's Love Got to Do with It" by Tina Turner vs. "If I Could Turn Back Time" by Cher
- "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand vs. "Float On" by Modest Mouse
- "Shining Star" by Earth, Wind & Fire vs. "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder
- "Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls vs. "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith
- "Let It Go" by Idina Menzel vs. "How Far I'll Go" by Auli'l Cravalho
- "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by Gene Autry vs. "Frosty the Snowman" by Gene Autry & The Cass County Boys
- "Bodak Yellow" by Cardi B vs. "Truth Hurts" by Lizzo
- "In the End" by Linkin Park vs. "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence
- "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams vs. "Jack & Diane" by John "Cougar" Mellencamp
- "No Scrubs" by TLC vs. "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child
- "Lollipop" by Lil Wayne vs. "Whatever You Like" by T.I.
- "Wild Thing" by The Troggs vs. "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen
- "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield vs. "My Best Friend's Girl" by The Cars
- "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel vs. "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by R.E.M.
- "Happy" by Pharrell Williams vs. "Can't Stop the Feeling!" by Justin Timberlake
- "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen vs. "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor
- "She's So High" by Tal Bachman vs. "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus
- "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by The Backstreet Boys vs. "Bye Bye Bye" by *NSYNC
- "Theme from Shaft" by Isaac Hayes vs. "Superfly" by Curtis Mayfield
- "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani vs. "My Humps" by The Black Eyed Peas
- "867-5309 (Jenny)" by Tommy Tutone vs. "Centerfold" by The J. Geils Band
- "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees vs. "I Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher
- "Back in Black" by AC/DC vs. "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne
- "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb vs. "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia
- "California Love" by Tupac Shakur vs. "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems" by The Notorious B.I.G.
- "Dirt Road Anthem" by Jason Aldean vs. "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line
- "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr. vs. "Men in Black" by Will Smith
- "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel vs. "The Book of Love" by The Magnetic Fields
- "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang vs. "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie
- "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band-Aid vs. "We Are the World" by U.S.A. for Africa
- "Rockstar" by DaBaby vs. "Rockstar" by Post Malone
- "Freak on a Leash" by Korn vs. "Nookie" by Limp Bizkit
- "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne vs. "Misery Business" by Paramore
- "New Slang" by The Shins vs. "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie
- "Cornflake Girl" by Tori Amos vs. "Human Behavior" by Björk
- "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses vs. "Enter Sandman" by Metallica
- "Come to My Window" by Melissa Etheridge vs. "Closer to Fine" by Indigo Girls
- "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry vs. "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga
- "Seether" by Veruca Salt vs. "Cannonball" by The Breeders
- "Move Along" by The All-American Rejects vs. "Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard
- "In da Club" by 50 Cent vs. "Hot in Herre" by Nelly
- "Runaway" by Kanye West vs. "Marvins Room" by Drake
- "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel vs. "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush
- "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin vs. "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
- "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check" by Busta Rhymes vs. "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" by Missy Elliott
- "School's Out" by Alice Cooper vs. "Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2" by Pink Floyd
- "Band on the Run" by Wings vs. "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra
- "What's My Age Again?" by blink-182 vs. "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" by The Offspring
- "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham! vs. "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club
- "Blue Monday" by New Order vs. "Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode
- "Jump" by Kris Kross vs. "Jump Around" by House of Pain
- "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon and Yoko Ono vs. "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney
- "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo vs. "Happier Than Ever" by Billie Eilish
- "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind vs. "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies
- "Everywhere" by Michelle Branch vs. "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton
- "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses vs. "I'd Do Any Thing for Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meat Loaf
- "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams vs. "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
- "Roar" by Katy Perry vs. "Brave" by Sara Bareilles
- "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones vs. "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles
- "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne vs. "1985" by Bowling for Soup
- "Easy Lover" by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins vs. "Maneater" by Daryl Hall & John Oates
- "Low" by Flo Rida vs. "Get Low" by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz
- "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken" by Camera Obscura vs. "Another Sunny Day" by Belle and Sebastian
- "Fly" by Sugar Ray vs. "What I Got" by Sublime
- "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John vs. "Piano Man" by Billy Joel
This podcast provides examples of:
- Christmas Episode: Todd and Alina pitted "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" against "Frosty the Snowman" for Episode 27 in honor of the holiday season, and "Do They Know It's Christmastime" against "We Are The World" the following year. 2021 added "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" taking on "Wonderful Christmastime".
- Cultural Posturing: Downplayed, as Alina has said that being from New Jersey is not a huge part of her life outside the musical sphere, but she can generally be relied upon to stick up for a New Jersey act whenever they're being discussed on the show.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Some match-ups are particularly one-sided; while the hosts originally tried to avoid it, Todd eventually "gave up" and matched songs regardless of whether or not both sides had a fair chance of victory. (A few Dark Horse Victories have slipped through anyway.) Some of the winners by the biggest margins are "Superstition," "Another One Bites the Dust," and "Hollaback Girl," though in the latter case it's generally seen as a repudiation of the other candidate, "My Humps."
- Election Day Episode: "Celebration" vs. "All Night Long" was recorded and released in response to the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election.
- Halloween Episode: For Halloween 2020 they did the themes from Ghostbusters vs. Men in Black.
-
One-Hit Wonder: "She's So High" vs. "Teenage Dirtbag" is so far the only battle of the one-hit wonders on the show, athlough "Ice Ice Baby" vs. "U Can't Touch This", "867-5309 (Jenny)" vs. "Centerfold", "Wild Thing" vs. "Louie Louie", "Stay (I Missed You)" vs. "Torn", and "Jump" vs. "Jump Around" are all borderline cases.
- Once per Episode:
- Towards the end of the episode, the hosts discuss three hypothetical questions relating to the songs, partly for fun, but also to try and narrow down their choices in matchups where one or the other remains undecided as to which they prefer:
- If one of the two songs were to be deleted from history, which would you save? This relates to the historical impact of the songs.
- If you could be a fly on the wall and witness the entire process of the song being composed and recorded, soup to nuts, including the music video in some instances, which would you pick? This often relates to which song has more unique elements or a more interesting story behind it.
- If William Shatner were to record a cover of only one of the two songs, which would you pick? This mostly started as a way of invoking Shatner's infamous style of delivery for humour, but also allows reflection on the lyrics; they tend to favour songs whose lyrics better suit Shatner's actorly delivery.
- Alina recently added a 4th question: Which song would Megan Thee Stallion listen to to get ready for a night of "hot girl shit?"
- Alina has referenced the fact that she says "How dare you!" and "In the year of our lord 20##" an average of once per episode.
- Towards the end of the episode, the hosts discuss three hypothetical questions relating to the songs, partly for fun, but also to try and narrow down their choices in matchups where one or the other remains undecided as to which they prefer:
- Popularity Polynomial : This is discussed in a couple episodes featuring acts that were big in the '60s like The Beach Boys and Tina Turner, where Todd talks about how these bands and artists' hitmaking status dried up in the '70s, only for them to get at least one major hit in the next decade thanks to Boomer nostalgia.
- Self-Deprecation: While both hosts are willing to make themselves the butt of a joke, Alina is more likely to mock her own snobbish and hipster-y musical tastes, a contrarian streak to her opinions, and generally miserable childhood over the course of a given episode.
- Special Guest:
- Billboard magazine editor Andrew Unterberger is featured in Episode 32.
- Episode 39 features screenwriter C. Robert Cargill.
- Country music Youtuber Grady Smith comes in on episode 47 to fill in for Alina's relative lack of experience in country music.
- The bonus episode on Rocky Horror Picture Show features Michael Keene, for a similar reason to the above.
- Lindsay Ellis on the "Freak on a Leash"/"Nookie" episode to bring some lived-in experience to the proceedings.
- Alina's wife, Raven, on "Seether"/"Cannonball" for similar reasons.
- Spectrum Pulse appears as the special guest for the "In da Club"/"Hot in Herre" and "Good 4 U"/"Happier Than Ever" episodes.
- The Rap Critic is featured in the "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check"/"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" and "Low"/"Get Low" episodes.
- Third Time's the Charm: The show has generally not repeated acts (Aside from having two separate Beatles vs Rolling Stones matchups), although certain musicians pop up on repeat due to appearing in multiple acts. The duo notes in the 2021 Christmas episode that Paul McCartney is their first person to show up three different matchups (as part of The Beatles, part of Wings, and a solo act).
- Waxing Lyrical: Pretty much inevitable.