Song · David Byrne
“What Is The Reason For It?” by David Byrne featuring Hayley Williams
From the album Who Is the Sky? (2025) Featuring Hayley Williams
“What Is The Reason For It?” by David Byrne featuring Hayley Williams appears on 8 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 2025 and 2026. It was first released in 2025 on the album Who Is the Sky?. Its best result is #24 on the WEXT Top 106 of 2025. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #64 indie & aaa song of 2025, #8,413 indie & aaa song of all time and #329 of the '20s.
"What Is The Reason For It?" arrived with Who Is the Sky?, the album David Byrne released on Matador on September 5, 2025, made with the New York City ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra, and it brings in Hayley Williams as guest vocalist. Kid Harpoon produced it, Brian Rajaratnam engineered and Mark "Spike" Stent mixed.
The album took shape in the years after Byrne's American Utopia run, which had carried him to Broadway and into an HBO special directed by Spike Lee. He built the songs up from bare acoustic demos and looped beats, each one, in his words, a new adventure, then counted on orchestral arrangements to draw out the feeling at their core.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 85 | WXPN Philadelphia, PA | WXPN Top 100 Songs of 2025 | 100 |
| 2025 | 85 | KXT Dallas–Fort Worth, TX | KXT Top 91 Songs of 2025 | 91 |
| 2025 | 37 | Indie 102.3 Denver, CO | Indie 102.3 Top 102.3 Songs of 2025 | 103 |
| 2025 | 31 | 90.9 The Bridge Kansas City, MO | 90.9 The Bridge Top 90 Songs of 2025 | 90 |
| 2025 | 36 | WERS 88.9 Boston, MA | WERS Top 88 Songs of 2025 | 88 |
| 2025 | 24 | Exit 97.7 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | WEXT Top 106 of 2025 | 106 |
| 2025 | 67 | WTMD Baltimore, MD | WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2025 | 90 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 900 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
Also listed as: What is the Reason for It?; What Is the Reason for It (feat. Hayley Williams); What Is The Reason For It? ft. Hayley Williams; What Is The Reason For It (Feat. Hayley Williams); What Is The Reason For It (ft Hayley Williams); What Is the Reason For It feat. Hayley Williams.
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