Chrissie Hynde got the phrase "Brass In Pocket" from a Northern England slang term meaning you had some money, "brass" meaning coins.
"Baby One More Time" was originally offered to TLC but they passed on it. The R&B trio felt uncomfortable singing "'hit me baby one more time."
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is an English version of a Zulu hunting song from the 1930s.
Mary J. Blige introduced three new words with her hit "Family Affair": hateration, holleration and dancerie.
Vegetarian Fred Schneider of the B-52's got the idea for "Rock Lobster" at an Atlanta disco when a projector displayed images of lobsters on a grill.
The stories behind "Shine," "December," "The World I Know" and other Collective Soul hits.
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.
Zac tells the story of Hanson's massive hit "MMMbop," and talks about how brotherly bonds effect their music.
Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.
Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.
Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.