The events described in Alanis Morissette's song "Ironic," like rain on your wedding day, are not examples of irony. Irony is the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning.
Damon Albarn found inspiration for Blur's Britpop classic "Girls & Boys" while on holiday in Majorca. He noted that in the club scene there was "no morality involved."
"I Want It That Way" is the most popular Backstreet Boys song, but the lyric doesn't make much sense. That's because it was written by the hitmaking swedish producers Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson, who were more worried about how it sings than what it means.
UB40's cover of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine" was a minor hit when first released in 1983, but it went to #1 five years later when radio stations in Phoenix started playing it.
David Bowie's "Station to Station" is over 10 minutes long. Bowie was doing a lot of drugs at the time and later said, "I have only flashes of making it."
"Master Blaster (Jammin')" is Stevie Wonder's tribute to Bob Marley, released less than a year before Marley died.
The lead singer on "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," La La explains how and why Phil Spector replaced The Crystals with Darlene Love on "He's A Rebel."
Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.
In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric.
A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.
Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.
Chris tells the story of "Wicked Game," talks milkshakes and moonpies at Sun Records, and explains why women always get their way.