"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is one of the few Bernie Taupin lyrics that is more about him than Elton John. The song is about giving up glitz for the simple life - not exactly Elton's M.O.
"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is based on billboards John Lennon and Yoko Ono posted two years earlier declaring "War Is Over! If You Want It."
Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" was co-written by Sarah Hudson, who was a member of the pop group Ultraviolet Sound. Though Sarah isn't related to Katy (whose real name is Katy Hudson), she is the first cousin of another famous person with the same name, the actress Kate Hudson.
Despite his hit "Forever In Blue Jeans," Neil Diamond was rarely seen in denim. He said the jeans are a symbol for how "the simple things are really the important things."
Janet Jackson wrote the lyric to "Nasty" in response to random guys calling her "baby."
Kung Fu was big in 1974, with movies by Bruce Lee and a TV series called Kung Fu. Carl Douglas brought it to the dance floor that year with "Kung Fu Fighting," a #1 hit.
When televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart took on rockers like Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica, the rockers retaliated. Bono could even be seen mocking the preachers.
In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric.
One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.
Joe talks about the challenges of of making a Duke Ellington tribute album, and tells the stories behind some of his hits.
Are classic songs like "Over The Rainbow" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in the public domain?
Rockers, rappers and pop stars have been known to quote the Bible in their songs. See if you match the artist to the biblical lyric.