"Personal Jesus," a song about "being a Jesus for somebody else," was inspired by Elvis and Priscilla Presley.
"Yellow" by Coldplay is a deep, meaningful song, but the title has a rather prosaic origin: it came from the phone directory, known as "the yellow pages."
Bono wrote U2's song "Sweetest Thing" for his wife to make up for working on her birthday. For the video, he staged an "apology parade," complete with Irish step dancers and an elephant.
Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of Kiss wrote "Rock And Roll All Nite" as a "rallying cry for all of our fans." In later years, members of Kiss wrote songs separately.
There's a lot of Americana in "Uncle John's Band" by the Grateful Dead, including references to "Buckdancer's Choice" (an Appalachian folk song) and "Fire And Ice," a Robert Frost poem.
"Open Arms" was a pioneering power ballad. Stadium rock bands like Journey shied away from slow songs, but when they reluctantly agreed to record the song, it became their biggest chart hit.
Did Eric Clapton really steal George's wife? What's the George Harrison-Monty Python connection? Set the record straight with our Fact or Fiction quiz.
A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.
Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath explains the meanings behind some of their biggest songs and names the sci-fi books that have influenced him.
A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.
Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.
At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.