The Matchbox Twenty song "3 AM" is about the difficult times lead singer Rob Thomas spent caring for his mother, who had cancer.
"The Way" by Fastball was inspired by the story of an elderly couple from Texas who drove to a nearby family reunion and kept going. Fastball's bass player imagined them taking off and having fun like they were young. The story didn't end well: the couple was later found dead after they crashed in a canyon.
Before recording "Boom Clap" herself, Charli XCX offered the song to Hilary Duff. However, the singer's people turned down the tune declaring it wasn't "cool enough for Hilary."
On Metallica's "The Unforgiven," James Hetfield modeled his vocals on Chris Isaak
Taio Cruz throws his hands up "sometimes" in "Dynamite" because the song was originally written about surrender.
In the INXS song "Devil Inside," the devil represents chaos. "Every time you think something's right, he comes in and changes everything," Michael Hutchence said.
In the summer of 1990, you could get arrested for selling a 2 Live Crew album or performing their songs in Southern Florida. And that's exactly what happened.
Medley looks back on "Unchained Melody" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" - his huge hits from the '60s that were later revived in movies.
Collaborating with T Bone Burnett, Leslie Phillips changed her name and left her Christian label behind - Robert Plant, who recorded one of her songs on Raising Sand, is a fan.
Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.
Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.
Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.
