Jimmy Webb was inspired to write "Up-Up and Away" by a balloon that his friend William F. Williams flew on promotions for radio station KMEN.
"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow started with the first line from an obscure poem called "Fun" that read, "All I wanna do is have some fun."
"I Won't Back Down" is a very personal song for Tom Petty. "I thought it wasn't that good because it was so naked," he said.
The comedian Steve Martin had a hit in 1978 with "King Tut." The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who Martin would open for on tour, were his backing band on the song.
Fall Out Boy's "The Phoenix" samples the classical work "Allegro Non Troppo," which was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1941. Vocalist Patrick Stump was inspired by "the creepiness" of the strings.
Ozzy Osbourne's "Shot In The Dark" is titled after a Pink Panther movie.
Country songs with titles so bizarre they can't possibly be real... or can they?
A big list of musical marriages and family relations ranging from the simple to the truly dysfunctional.
One of Canada's most popular and eclectic performers, Hawksley tells stories about his oldest songs, his plentiful side projects, and the ways that he keeps his songwriting fresh.
Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.
Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.
Do you remember the first time you heard "email" in a song? How about "hater" or "Facebook"? Here are the songs where they first showed up.