Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" to comfort John Lennon's 5-year-old son Julian, whose parents were getting a divorce.
Beyoncé married Jay-Z five months before releasing "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)," a song she sang in character as her alter-ego, Sasha Fierce.
"Kickstart My Heart" is about all the ways Motley Crue gets their blood flowing without drugs. It was inspired by their bass player Nikki Sixx, who claimed he had to be revived with a shot of adrenaline to the heart after an overdose.
"Only Wanna Be With You" by Hootie & the Blowfish is a tribute to Bob Dylan, but Dylan sued them over it for using lyrics from his song "Idiot Wind."
Fleetwood Mac were going through various internecine romantic tribulations while recording their Rumours album. The song "Dreams" was written by Stevie Nicks with the line "Players only love you when they're playing" directed at their guitarist, Lindsey Buckingham.
On Missy Elliott's "Work It," the backward vocal is the previous line, "Put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it," in reverse. She stumbled on it when the engineer played it backward by mistake.
Meshell Ndegeocello talks about recording "Wild Night" with John Mellencamp, and explains why she shied away from the spotlight.
The longtime BS&T frontman tells the "Spinning Wheel" story, including the line he got from Joni Mitchell.
The Third Day frontman talks about some of the classic songs he wrote with the band, and what changed for his solo country album.
Does Angus really drink himself silly? Did their name come from a sewing machine? See if you can spot the real stories about AC/DC.
Known in America for the hit "If You Leave," OMD is a huge influence on modern electronic music.
Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.