"Walking on a Thin Line" by Huey Lewis and the News is about an American soldier who is trained as a sniper in the Vietnam War. It was written for a documentary on the war.
"Hot n Cold" by Katy Perry is about a real guy - an ex who would seem really interested at times but would then just disappear.
"Back In The U.S.S.R." by The Beatles was play on "California Girls" by The Beach Boys, with "Moscow girls" and "Ukraine girls" instead of the all-American girls.
Bruce Springsteen wrote "Blinded By The Light," which was a #1 hit for Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The "Madman Drummers" line is a reference to Springsteen's first E-Street drummer, Vinnie "Mad dog" Lopez.
Jay-Z did the rap on Beyoncé's "Crazy In Love" at the last minute. They had just started dating; she asked him to feature on the track the night before she had to turn in her album.
David Bowie was in a mystical state when he wrote "The Man Who Sold The World," which he said happened during his "15 minutes of Buddhism."
How a goofy detective movie, a disenchanted director and an unlikely songwriter led to one of the biggest hits in pop history.
Psychedelic Furs lead singer Richard Butler talks about their first album since 1991 and explains what's really going on in "Pretty In Pink."
Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).
Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?
Wolfgang Van Halen breaks down the songs on his debut album, Mammoth WVH, and names the definitive Van Halen songs from the Sammy and Dave eras.
