"Closing Time" by Semisonic was written by the lead singer when his wife was pregnant. Some of the lyrics are about being born.
Madonna's hit "Like A Prayer" debuted in a Pepsi commercial, but Pepsi pulled the ad the next day when the controversial video appeared. Madonna got to keep her $5 million endorsement money.
Scott Stapp of Creed wrote "With Arms Wide Open" when he found out he was going to be a dad. He named his son Jagger.
"Whip It" by Devo is about the rah-rah affirmations delivered by politicians and motivational speakers who often have ulterior motives.
Neil Young rarely allows his songs to be sampled, but he let the Canadian group Redlight King use "Old Man" in their 2011 song, also called "Old Man."
At 9:57, David Bowie's "Blackstar" was the longest song to reach the Hot 100 until 2019, when Tool bested the record with the 10:21 "Fear Inoculum."
Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.
These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.
The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.
Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.
The stories behind the biggest hit songs about trucking.
Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.