"Babylon," in David Gray's song, refers to London, which was once known as the "modern-day Babylon."
The Jesus Jones song "Right Here, Right Now" was conceived as an optimistic version of Prince's "Sign O' The Times."
The chorus of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir" in "Lady Marmalade" is French for "Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" When Labelle performed it on television, they had to change it to "Voulez-vous danser avec moi ce soir" (Do you want to dance with me tonight?).
"Nuclear Device (The Wizard of Aus)" by The Stranglers was written about the then Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen. His political shenanigans were observed by the band during their first tour of Australia.
Dolly Parton is just fine with Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You." Said Parton: "She can have the credit. I just want my cash."
The Boyz II Men hit "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" is an a capella cover of a song from 1975 by G.C. Cameron that was used in the movie Cooley High to express the feeling of parting ways with high school friends.
Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.
Andrew Farriss on writing with Michael Hutchence, the stories behind "Mystify" and other INXS hits, and his country-flavored debut solo album.
The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.
Michael tells the story of "Send Me On My Way," and explains why some of the words in the song don't have a literal meaning.
Michelob commercials generated hits for Eric Clapton, Genesis and Steve Winwood in the '80s, even as some of these rockers were fighting alcoholism.
An original member of Depeche Mode, Vince went on to form Erasure and Yaz.