"Should I Stay or Should I Go?" by The Clash features some Spanish lines by the Texas singer Joe Ely.
Phil Collins' "Take Me Home" is about a patient in a mental institution and was inspired by the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
"Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" was written for Doris Day to sing in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Man Who Knew Too Much.
"One Way Or Another" is based on a stalker who creeped out Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry.
Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" was written by the keyboard player from Toto, who was working on the Thriller album.
Madonna didn't write "Papa Don't Preach," which deals with abortion. What drew her to the song was the singer standing up to male authority.
The 5-octave voice of the classical rock band Renaissance, Annie is big on creative expression. In this talk, she covers Roy Wood, the history of the band, and where all the money went in the '70s.
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.
The Creed lead singer reveals the "ego and self-fulfillment" he now sees in one of the band's biggest hits.
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.
With a few clues (Works at a diner, dreams of running away), can you name the character in the song?
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.