Al Gore chose an inspiring but obscure campaign song when he ran for president in 2000: "Let The Day Begin" by The Call.
Madonna didn't write "Papa Don't Preach," which deals with abortion. What drew her to the song was the singer standing up to male authority.
"Sloop John B" is a traditional West Indian folk song, and it was a huge hit for The Beach Boys in 1966. They tweaked the lyric, "This is the worst trip since I've been born" to "...I've ever been on" as a wink to acid culture.
Pete Townshend wrote the lyrics for "My Generation" during a train ride from London to Southampton on his 20th birthday.
"All Star" was written as a confidence builder for fans who were bullied for liking Smash Mouth.
YouTube were forced into an upgrade after PSY's "Gangnam Style" broke the video-sharing website's hit counter. Once the tune reached 2,147,483,647 views, the maximum positive value for a 32-bit signed binary integer in computing, the view-counter could no longer work.
The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.
Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.
The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.
John tells the "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" story and explains why he disappeared for so long.
Collaborating with T Bone Burnett, Leslie Phillips changed her name and left her Christian label behind - Robert Plant, who recorded one of her songs on Raising Sand, is a fan.
