Blur's "There Are Too Many of Us" was inspired in part by a siege in an Australian chocolate café that Damon Albarn witnessed, which resulted in the death of the gunman and two hostages.
"Grenade" was a term used on the show Jersey Shore to mean an ugly girl. Bruno Mars says his hit song with that title was written before the show started.
The Simpsons theme song was composed by Danny Elfman, who went on to write music for films like Edward Scissorhands and Men In Black. He had a band at the time called Oingo Boingo, which did the theme song to the 1985 movie Weird Science.
Before launching his career as a singer, Bruno Mars was a writer/producer. He and his co-writers pitched "Just The Way You Are" to Cee-Lo Green; when he turned it down, Bruno recorded it himself and released it in 2010 as his first single as a lead artist.
"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.
One of Tom Petty's most personal songs is "Room At The Top," which he stopped performing because it brought back painful memories.
Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.
Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.
The Third Day frontman talks about some of the classic songs he wrote with the band, and what changed for his solo country album.
When you free your mind, your ass may follow, but you have to make sure someone else doesn't program it while it's wide open.
The "All I Want" singer went through a long depression, playing some shows when he didn't want to be alive.
Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.