The Blues Traveler song "Hook" is a Peter Pan reference, but also about the catchy hook of the song, which is what "brings you back."
Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits wrote "Private Dancer," which went to Tina Turner when he realized it wasn't a song for a man to sing.
Billy Idol's "Eyes Without A Face" has a gruesome inspiration. It's based on a 1959 French movie about a surgeon who abducts young women and removes their facial features.
Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff" deals with police brutality in the Trenchtown section of Jamaica, where he grew up. He felt that police assumed young men in the area were all criminals.
The line, "Gotta keep 'em separated" in "Come Out And Play" by The Offspring came to lead singer Dexter Holland when he was a medical student and needed to keep bacteria samples away from each other.
Vincent Price did the spooky narration on "Thriller." He was paid a flat fee of $20,000, turning down a percentage of the royalties that would have paid him far more.
A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.
Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.
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."
The Winger frontman reveals the Led Zeppelin song he cribbed for "Seventeen," and explains how his passion for orchestra music informs his songwriting.
Daniel Lanois on his album Heavy Sun, and the inside stories of songs he produced for U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan.
The lead singer on "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," La La explains how and why Phil Spector replaced The Crystals with Darlene Love on "He's A Rebel."