"Girl Crush" by Little Big Town came from the hashtag #girlcrush, which its co-writer, Lori McKenna, spotted on Instagram.
Taylor Swift's “Shake It Off” was inspired by how she'd learned to deal with all the false rumors that circulated about her. "The only thing we can control is our reaction to that ,” said Swift. "You can either let it get to you … [or] you just shake it off."
The third verse of "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies ("they shook and lurched all over the church floor...") was inspired by girl whose parents would speak in tongues at their Pentecostal service.
Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" tells the story of real people who were part of Andy Warhol's "factory," including Holly Woodlawn and Candy Darling.
"London Calling" by The Clash was written amid widespread fears that the Thames River was going to flood the city.
Damon Albarn found inspiration for Blur's "Girls And Boys" whilst on holiday in Magaluf on the Spanish island of Majorca.
Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.
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."
He wrote "She Blinded Me With Science" so he could direct a video about a home for deranged scientists.
Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai were two of Graham's co-writers for some '80s rock classics.
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.
Even before Soundgarden wrote a song about him, Artis was the most famous spoon player of all time. So why has he always been broke?
