The "Doctor of philosophy" in the Indigo Girls' song "Closer To Fine" is based on a teacher Emily Saliers had who had a poster of Rasputin on his door.
One of the first hit songs used in a major marketing campaign was "Start Me Up" by The Rolling Stones. Microsoft paid $3 million to use it in commercials for Windows '95.
The idea for "The Man Comes Around" came to Johnny Cash from a dream he had where he was in Buckingham Palace and the Queen said to him, "Johnny Cash, you're just like a thorn tree in a whirlwind."
"Should I Stay or Should I Go?" by The Clash features some Spanish lines by the Texas singer Joe Ely.
Keith Richards did some studio alchemy on "Street Fighting Man," which is all acoustic except the bass.
The Mary J. Blige song "No More Drama" samples the theme to the appropriately dramatic soap opera The Young And The Restless.
Faith No More's bassist, Billy Gould, chats to us about his two new experimental projects, The Talking Book and House of Hayduk, and also shares some stories from the FNM days.
What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.
His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."
On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.
These Three famous songs actually describe how they were written - late into the evening.
The revered singer-songwriter talks inspiration and explains why she put a mahout in "Drop the Pilot."