Cake lead singer John McCrea says their song "The Distance" is about the "failure of success." No matter how much we strive for victory, we'll always want more, particularly in the corporate world.
Willa Ford came up with her hit "I Wanna Be Bad" when her record company told her to tone down her music in a effort to differentiate her from Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, who were in their "bad girl" eras.
The Strokes admitted to purloining Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' "American Girl" for their 2001 hit "Last Nite." "Yeah, we ripped it off," lead singer Julian Casablancas said.
"Constant Craving" by k.d. lang deals with principles of Buddhism, including the cycles of birth and death.
Elvis Presley recorded "Always On My Mind" in 1972, but Willie Nelson's version 10 years later was the hit and won the Song of the Year Grammy.
Weird Al Yankovic proposed a parody of "Black Or White" called "Snack All Night," but Michael Jackson asked him not to.
Cain talks about the divine inspirations for "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Faithfully."
Oliver Leiber talks about writing and producing hits for Paula Abdul, and explains his complicated relationship with his father, the songwriter Jerry Leiber.
Pool balls, magpies and thorns without roses - how well do you know your Tom Waits lyrics?
These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.
It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.
The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.