Lou Reed's 11-minute "Street Hassle" features a spoken part by Bruce Springsteen.
Walk The Moon vocalist Nicholas Petricca got the idea for "Shut Up and Dance" when he and his girlfriend were taking forever to get drinks at a Los Angeles club bar. Petricca was getting frustrated, so his girlfriend told him to, "Shut up and dance with me!'"
James Taylor wrote "Sweet Baby James" during a road trip to Virginia in honor of his brother’s new baby, also named James, whom he was about to meet for the first time.
"Tomorrow People" by Ziggy Marley is the first song by a Marley to crack the US Top 40; the highest Bob got was #51 with "Roots, Rock, Reggae."
Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" is based on the song "It's A Hard Knock Life" from the Broadway play Annie.
The game Lana Del Rey sings about in "Video Games" is World of Warcraft - her ex used to play it all the time.
The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.
David Gray explains the significance of the word "Babylon," and talks about how songs are a form of active imagination, with lyrics that reveal what's inside us.
How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?
The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.
Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.
When a song describes a wedding, it's rarely something to celebrate - with one big exception.