The title of the Metallica song "Ride The Lightning" came from a line in the Stephen King book The Stand where a guy is about to be executed.
The song "Grease," sung by Frankie Valli in the 1978 movie, was written by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees.
The kid in Madonna's "Open Your Heart" video became a successful songwriter. His songs include Amy Winehouse's "You Sent Me Flying" and James Blunt's "1973."
Rod Stewart wrote "Maggie May" about the woman who deflowered him when he was 16.
"Spoonman" by Soundgarden is about a real street performer in Seattle: Artis the Spoonman.
Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.
Eddie (played by Johnny Depp in the video) found fame fleeting, but Chuck Berry's made-up musician fared better.
Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.
Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.
Untangling the events that led to the "Stairway To Heaven" lawsuit.
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.
