The Ben Folds Five song "Brick" is about a difficult time when Folds' girlfriend got an abortion.
Cher had a habit of calling people "babe," which her husband, Sonny Bono, picked up. That's how "babe" landed in the 1965 Sonny & Cher megahit "I Got You Babe."
The Whitney Houston hit "I Have Nothing" was inspired by Elvis Presley, who dated the song's lyricist, Linda Thompson.
The title of Ed Sheeran's hit "The A Team" refers to Class A drugs like heroin and cocaine. It's a play on words, as the subject of the song is a drug addict, not a member of an elite group.
Sea creatures mentioned in "Rock Lobster" by The B-52s include a jellyfish, piranha, bikini whale and narwhal. A "rock lobster" is better known as a crayfish.
Adele isn't a ghost when she sings, "Hello from the other side" - it means the "other side of becoming an adult."
Doors expert Jim Cherry, author of The Doors Examined, talks about some of their defining songs and exposes some Jim Morrison myths.
A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.
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.
Paul Stanley on his soul music project, the Kiss songs with the biggest soul influence, and the non-make-up era of the band.
When he joined Guns N' Roses in 1990, Matt helped them craft an orchestral sound; his mezzo fortes and pianissimos are all over "November Rain."
When singers started spoofing their own songs on Sesame Street, the results were both educational and hilarious - here are the best of them.