Often heard as a patriotic song, "Down Under" is really about the selling of Australia and makes a strong political statement.
The B-52's picked chose the location of their song "Private Idaho" because the state had a reputation for being wacky and mysterious. The title was a play on the phrase "Private Eye."
The lyric to "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips was inspired by Chynna Phillips' struggles with addiction. "Hold on for one more day" is something she heard in AA meetings.
A perfume called Wonderstruck was named after a line in Taylor Swift's song "Enchanted": "I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home."
An unexpected guest vocal: Marianne Faithfull on the Metallica song "The Memory Remains." A star in the '60s, this collaboration helped revive her career.
Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."
Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.
John tells the "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" story and explains why he disappeared for so long.
Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.
One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.
When he was asked to write a song for the Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.
