"Zoot Suit Riot" isn't just a Cherry Poppin' Daddies song - they were real riots in Los Angeles in 1943 that inspired the lyrics.
Adam Levine of Maroon 5 made it obvious who their song "This Love" was about when he named the album "Songs About Jane."
The Arctic Monkeys 2011 song "Suck It and See" is titled after a British saying meaning you should try something to see if you like it.
The hit duet "Somewhere Out There" was written for an animated film about a family of immigrant mice who lose one of their young.
Avril Lavigne said her Goodbye Lullaby track "Darlin" was "probably" the second song she ever wrote. The Canadian composed it when she was an unsigned 15-year-old living in Napanee, Ontario.
The guys who wrote "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" had never been to a baseball game but knew it was a good song topic.
"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."
If counterpoint and polyrhythms are your thing, you might love these guys. Even by Progressive Rock standards, they were one of the most intricate bands of the '70s. Then their lead singer gave us Bon Jovi.
Inspired by his dear friend, "Seasons in the Sun" paid for Terry's boat, which led him away from music and into a battle with Canadian paper mills.
With the band in danger of being dropped from their label, Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith co-wrote the song that started their trek from horror show curiosity to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Rob Thomas on his Social Distance Sessions, co-starring with a camel, and his friendship with Carlos Santana.
The "A Thousand Miles" singer on what she thinks of her song being used in White Chicks and how she captured a song from a dream.
