Fleetwood Mac's "Gypsy" is about Stevie Nicks' best friend, who died of leukemia.
"I Won't Back Down" is a very personal song for Tom Petty. "I thought it wasn't that good because it was so naked," he said.
Rob Reiner named his 1986 movie "Stand By Me" after the song, since he thought The Body, a Stephen King story on which it was based, sounded like a horror movie.
In Beastie Boys' "Paul Revere," the title refers to the name of a horse. They took it from a song in the musical Guys And Dolls where a character sings, "I got the horse right here, the name is Paul Revere."
"I Swear" was a #1 country hit for John Michael Montgomery before All-4-One made it a #1 pop hit.
The comedian Steve Martin had a hit in 1978 with "King Tut." The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who Martin would open for on tour, were his backing band on the song.
U2, Carly Simon, Joanna Newsom, Brian Wilson and Fiona Apple have all gone to Van Dyke Parks to make their songs exceptional.
What happens when Kurt Cobain, Iron Maiden and Johnny Lydon are told to lip-synch? Some hilarious "performances."
With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."
We've heard of artists putting their hearts into their music, but some take it literally.
What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?
With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.