Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" is a very inspiring song, but it's really about heartbreak: David Coverdale wrote it when his first marriage was falling apart.
Jo Dee Messina's 1996 country classic "Heads Carolina, Tails California" was inspired by a book released the previous year called Border Music by Robert James Waller, where the main character flips a coin to decide his next destination.
The Hollies hit "The Air That I Breathe" was written in part as a reaction to the smog in Los Angeles.
Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" tells the story of real people who were part of Andy Warhol's "factory," including Holly Woodlawn and Candy Darling.
On the surface, "Summer Breeze" by Seals & Crofts is just a song about a guy coming home from work, but the duo claimed it had a deeper meaning about finding direction in one's personal life.
War got the idea for "Why Can't We Be Friends?" when they were traveling in Japan and found they had a kinship with the citizens even though they didn't speak the same language.
Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?
Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.
Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!
A talk with Martin Popoff about his latest book on Rush and how he assessed the thousands of albums he reviewed.
Meshell Ndegeocello talks about recording "Wild Night" with John Mellencamp, and explains why she shied away from the spotlight.
