"I Wish" by Skee-Lo was the first hit song to use the word "baller" in the chorus ("I wish I was a baller..."). That term pervaded pop music over the next several year.
John Lennon got the title of the Beatles song "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" from an article in a magazine published by the National Rifle Association.
The 1979 song "Life During Wartime" by Talking Heads deals with how technology could be exploited to take down the framework of society and enable government surveillance.
When "Theme From Shaft" won an Oscar in 1972, Isaac Hayes became the first African American to win in the Best Song category.
The line, "Gotta keep 'em separated" in "Come Out And Play" by The Offspring came to lead singer Dexter Holland when he was a medical student and needed to keep bacteria samples away from each other.
The Split Enz song "Six Months In A Leaky Boat" is about the journey explorers made from Europe to colonize Australia and New Zealand, where the band is from.
An interview with Frankie Valli, who talks about why his songs - both solo and with The Four Seasons - have endured, and reflects on his time as Rusty Millio on The Sopranos.
Jon Fratelli talks about the band's third album, and the five-year break leading up to it.
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.
Tom talks about the evolution of Cinderella's songs through their first three albums, and how he writes as a solo artist.
The evolution of the symbol that was Prince's name from 1993-2000.
A Soul Train dancer takes us through a day on the show, and explains what you had to do to get camera time.