Sia Furler wrote “Titanium” and originally wanted to give the tune to Katy Perry. She turned it down so David Guetta recorded it instead using Sia's original demo guide vocal.
"Fight The Power" was written for the Spike Lee movie Do The Right Thing. It opens the film and serves as the motif.
Bruce Springsteen's "Streets Of Philadelphia" won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1994, beating out Neil Young's "Philadelphia," which was also written for the movie Philadelphia.
Al Green's "Take Me to the River" describes a baptism. Two years later, he became a reverend.
"I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me) " borrows four bars from Notorious B.I.G's "The World Is Filled." Jay-Z and Biggie Smalls attended Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn, New York at the same time.
Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl" is about Christie Brinkley, who he married, but it started as a song about Elle McPherson, who he also went out with.
Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."
Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.
The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.
Wilder's hit "Break My Stride" had an unlikely inspiration: a famous record mogul who rejected it.
On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.
Petula talks about her hits "Downtown" and "Don't Sleep In The Subway," and explains her Michael Jackson connection.
