Henry Fuseli's "The Nightmare" (1781), a classical depiction of what is now recognized as old hag syndrome. Typically, the victim wakes up unable to move, barely able to breathe, and with an oppressive weight pressing down on his chest. Unsurprisingly, this can also lead to the feeling of an evil presence in the room. In days of yore, this would typically have been interpreted as a demonic visitation, but a modern age demands a modern interpretation, which may well be the reason why according to some reports, over two million Americans believe they have been abducted by aliens at some point.
"Return To Innocence" by Enigma is based on a Taiwanese chant by a husband and wife. The couple won a lawsuit granting them royalties from the song.
The Men Without Hats lead singer wrote "The Safety Dance" after getting kicked out of a bar for dancing too aggressively. The song is literally about being safe to dance if you want to.
Featured in the 1978 musical Evita, "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" became the biggest selling UK hit by a female vocalist (Julie Covington).
When Marc Cohn played "True Companion" to his girlfriend, she thought he was proposing. He wasn't, but he did eventually marry her.
Jessie J had a lyric from her song "Who You Are" tattooed on her hip, but she spelled "lose" incorrectly so it reads: "Don't loose who you are in the blur of the stars."
Moby says that "We Are All Made Of Stars" is scientifically accurate, since all matter originates from stardust.
Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.
Country songs with titles so bizarre they can't possibly be real... or can they?
The renown Texas songwriter has been at it for 40 years, with tales to tell about The Flatlanders and The Clash - that's Joe's Tex-Mex on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"
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.
How well do you know your David Bowie lyrics? Take this quiz to find out.
It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.