Dr. Luke and Max Martin originally wrote Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" with Pink in mind but she turned it down.
Lorde was 16 years and 11 months old when "Royals" topped the Hot 100. In doing so she became the youngest ever solo artist to write and perform a #1 hit.
The original, 1930s version of "Puttin' On the Ritz" has lyrics about Lenox Avenue in Harlem, not Park Avenue.
John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath got its title from a line in "The Battle Hymn of the Republic": "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored."
Ariana Grande's hit "Problem" started off as a track written by One Direction songwriter Savan Kotecha. He gave it the working title of "The Whisper Song," after a 2005 Ying Yang Twins hit.
Jo Dee Messina's 1996 country classic "Heads Carolina, Tails California" was inspired by a book released the previous year called Border Music by Robert James Waller, where the main character flips a coin to decide his next destination.
Producer Rupert Hine talks about crafting hits for Tina Turner, Howard Jones and The Fixx.
Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!
Don breaks down "Hotel California" and other songs he wrote as a member of the Eagles. Now we know where the "warm smell of colitas" came from.
"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."
Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.
"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.