Goya's "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters" provided the title of Mushuggah's song (and album) "The Violent Sleep of Reason." The etching depicts a nightmare, possibly Goya's commentary on the social and political climate in Spain. Mushuggah repurposed it as a look at the horrors in the Middle East.
When Petula Clark reached #1 in the US with "Downtown" in 1965, she became the first female singer from England to hit #1 in the US during the Rock Era (after 1955).
Musically, the Twisted Sister song "We're Not Gonna Take It" is based on the Christmas tune "O Come All Ye Faithful."
MTV reversed the word "joint" in Tom Petty's "You Don't Known How It Feels" so it was unintelligible, but gave the video a VMA anyway.
Pink wrote "Just Give Me A Reason" about how one partner can feel jilted over something trivial, like how her boyfriend passes her the butter.
Katy Perry's song "E.T." came from a beat originally intended for the rap group Three Six Mafia. When her producer accidentally pulled up the beat, Perry asked to use it.
Harry Chapin's wife Sandy wrote the lyrics to "Cat's In The Cradle," which were actually about her first husband.
The rock revolutionist on songwriting, quitting smoking, and what she thinks of Rush Limbaugh using her song.
The evolution of the symbol that was Prince's name from 1993-2000.
Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.
The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."
A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.
"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.