Katy Perry says her 2008 song "Ur So Gay" is about "guys who wear the guyliner, steal your jeans, and that whole almost hipster emo scene."
Michael McDonald's "I Keep Forgettin'" is based on a '60s song with the same title written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
The instrumental "YYZ" by Rush got its title from the transmitter code for Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto, near where the band is from.
"Heaven Is A Place On Earth" writer Ellen Shipley got the idea for the song from a gas station greeting card that said "Heaven On Earth."
There aren't many songs with a scientist as the main character, but Coldplay's "The Scientist" is one of their biggest hits. The guy in the song is brilliant, but despondent because he's lost his girl after neglecting her for his work.
Pink wrote "Just Give Me A Reason" about how one partner can feel jilted over something trivial, like how her boyfriend passes her the butter.
Pool balls, magpies and thorns without roses - how well do you know your Tom Waits lyrics?
Roger reveals the songwriting formula Clive Davis told him, and if "Eight Miles High" is really about drugs.
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.
Waters tells the "Gypsy Woman" story, shares some of her songwriting insights, and explains how Dennis Rodman ended up on one of her songs.
The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.
