The Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" was written by the Motown team of Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland and Eddie Holland. The phrase "Sugar pie, honey bunch" was something Dozier's grandfather used to say when he was a kid.
"Everybody Wants To Rule The World" was a line from a 1980 Clash song called "Charlie Don't Surf." Tears For Fears used it as the title of their 1985 hit.
Tina Turner hated "What's Love Got To Do With It" but when her manager convinced her to record it anyway, it became her big comeback hit.
Radiohead's "Paraonid Android" was written after a confrontation in a Los Angeles bar with an irate woman.
"A Hard Day's Night" was the title song to The Beatles' first movie, which was surprisingly good: it was nominated for two Oscars.
In "Kiss From A Rose," seal sings "kiss from a rose on a gray," not "grave," but he won't explain the lyric, feeling listeners should adapt the song to their own experience.
The former Metallica bassist talks about his first time writing a song with James Hetfield, and how a hand-me-down iPad has changed his songwriting.
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.
Armed with a childhood spent devouring books, Mike Scott's heart was stolen by the punk rock scene of 1977. Not surprisingly, he would go on to become the most literate of rockers.
The evolution of the symbol that was Prince's name from 1993-2000.
Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.
Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.