In Beastie Boys' "Paul Revere," the title refers to the name of a horse. They took it from a song in the musical Guys And Dolls where a character sings, "I got the horse right here, the name is Paul Revere."
"Stop Your Sobbing" was first recorded by The Kinks in 1964. It became the Pretenders first single 15 years later, leading to a relationship between Ray Davies and Chrissie Hynde.
Elton John's "Crocodile Rock" borrows a bit from Don McLean's "American Pie." Both songs feature a Chevy, and are about young people who are heartbroken when their music "dies."
Bob Seger's song "Beautiful Loser" was inspired by book Leonard Cohen published in 1966 called Beautiful Losers.
David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" was likely based on various musicians in his ambit, including Iggy Pop (zIGGY), and Jimi Hendrix, who played guitar left-handed ("He played it left hand").
"Babylon," in David Gray's song, refers to London, which was once known as the "modern-day Babylon."
They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.
Rickie Lee Jones on songwriting, social media, and how she's handling Trump.
Can you name Def Leppard's only #1 hit in America? Get rocked with this adrenalized quiz.
Eddie (played by Johnny Depp in the video) found fame fleeting, but Chuck Berry's made-up musician fared better.
Songs about drugs, revolution and greed that have been used in commercials for sneakers, jeans, fast food, cruises and cars.
As a 5-year-old, Brandi was writing lyrics to instrumental versions lullabies. She still puts her heart into her songs, including the one Elton John sings on.