Carly Simon wrote "Anticipation" when Cat Stevens was late for their first date. She was "anticipating" his arrival and set down with her guitar to calm her nerves.
Irving Berlin said "God Bless America" was "not a patriotic song, but rather an expression of gratitude."
Ronnie Dunn wrote "Boot Scootin' Boogie" before he teamed up with Kix Brooks to form Brooks & Dunn. It was originally recorded by the country group Asleep At The Wheel, but Brooks & Dunn did it themselves when it got its own line dance.
"Everybody Have Fun Tonight" is a rare hit with the band's name used as a verb: "Everybody Wang Chung tonight." The band says it can mean whatever you'd like it to.
Even though Johnnie Taylor's "Disco Lady" was the first US #1 with the word "disco" in its title, it wasn't a disco tune. He was just singing about disco.
"Spoonman" by Soundgarden is about a real street performer in Seattle: Artis the Spoonman.
Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.
Revisit the awesome glory of Night Ranger and Damn Yankees: cheesily-acted videos, catchy guitar licks, long hair, and lyrics that are just plain relatable.
10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces
A top country songwriter, Barry talks about writing hits for Little Big Town, Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean.
Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.
One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.