Jethro Tull lead singer Ian Anderson wrote "Aqualung" after looking at pictures of homeless men that his wife took. She got a co-writing credit on the song.
Elton John's "Crocodile Rock" borrows a bit from Don McLean's "American Pie." Both songs feature a Chevy, and are about young people who are heartbroken when their music "dies."
Eminem sampled a song by Labi Siffre on "My Name Is." Siffre, a gay activist, made Em take out some gay humor in the lyric before allowing it.
"Up Around The Bend" by Creedence Clearwater Revival had a different meaning to British listeners. In England, to go "Around the bend" means to go crazy.
"No Scrubs" introduced the term "scrub" to the popular lexicon, and defined it in the opening lines ("a scrub is a guy that think he's fine...").
Katy Perry says her 2008 song "Ur So Gay" is about "guys who wear the guyliner, steal your jeans, and that whole almost hipster emo scene."
When he was asked to write a song for the Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.
Despite appearances on Carson, Leno and a Pennebaker film, Williams remains a hidden treasure.
The man who brought us "Red Skies" and "Saved By Zero" is now an organic farmer in France.
Paul Stanley on his soul music project, the Kiss songs with the biggest soul influence, and the non-make-up era of the band.
The stories behind "Shine," "December," "The World I Know" and other Collective Soul hits.
Untangling the events that led to the "Stairway To Heaven" lawsuit.