Post Malone came up with "White Iverson" after getting braids in his hair and thinking they looked like basketball legend Allen Iverson's signature cornrows.
"I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" by Elton John was written for the sister of actress Rene Russo. Bernie Taupin, who wrote the lyrics, was married to Rene's sister, Toni.
The "Don't Stop Believin'" resurgence started when the Journey song was used in a roller skating scene of the 2003 movie Monster.
The TV show Cheers was nearly canceled after its first season, but the theme song, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name," was very popular. To satisfy viewer demand, the theme was made into a full song and released as a single.
In 1939, a polka craze swept America thanks to "Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel)."
Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.
The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."
How did The Edge get his name? Did they name a song after a Tolkien book? And who is "Angel of Harlem" about?
Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."
When she released her first album in 1988, Tanita became a UK singing sensation at age 19. She talks about her darkly sensual voice and quirky songwriting style.
Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.