"Mickey" by Toni Basil was originally a song called "Kitty" by a male group. She picked the new name after Micky Dolenz of The Monkees.
"Rio" by Duran Duran is a metaphor for America, where the band was trying to break through.
Freddie Mercury considered "We Are The Champions" his version of "My Way." "We have made it, and it certainly wasn't easy," he said.
Bob Marley gave the songwriting credit for "No Woman No Cry" to his friend Vincent Ford, who ran a soup kitchen in Trenchtown, the area of Kingston where Marley grew up.
"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" is about a guy Jim Croce met in the National Guard, which Jim joined to keep him out of Vietnam. Leroy went AWOL, but got caught when he tried to pick up his paycheck.
Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" to comfort John Lennon's 5-year-old son Julian, whose parents were getting a divorce.
The Christian rapper talks about where his trip to Haiti and his history of addiction fit into his songs.
In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.
Armed with a childhood spent devouring books, Mike Scott's heart was stolen by the punk rock scene of 1977. Not surprisingly, he would go on to become the most literate of rockers.
"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.
John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?
The co-writer/guitarist on many Alice Cooper hits, Dick was also Lou Reed's axeman on the Rock n' Roll Animal album.