An Allen Ginsberg line from his poem Howl inspired "Machinehead" by Bush: "Machine says I saw the best minds of my generation."
Snow Patrol had a huge hit in 2006 with the love song "Chasing Cars." The title alludes to how dogs chase cars just for the thrill of it, the same way two people deeply in love will embark on open-ended adventures, content to be in each others' company with no clear destination.
Bing Crosby debuted the song "White Christmas" in the 1942 movie Holiday Inn, where he plays a New Yorker stuck in Southern California for Christmas and missing the snow. The song became a Christmas classic and the basis for the 1954 movie White Christmas, also starring Crosby.
John Landis directed Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video and faced the challenge of making Jackson look scary. Landis was the man for the job: he directed the 1981 movie An American Werewolf In London, which also features lycanthropy.
Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" to comfort John Lennon's 5-year-old son Julian, whose parents were getting a divorce.
David Gilmour really was "Learning To Fly" when he co-wrote the Pink Floyd song - the aviation jargon came from his lessons.
Here is the church, here is the steeple - see if you can identify these lyrics that reference church.
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.
The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.
When you free your mind, your ass may follow, but you have to make sure someone else doesn't program it while it's wide open.
Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.
Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.