The most famous pop song featuring a bassoon: "The Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.
The 2001 Dirty Vegas hit "Days Go By" was written by their lead singer when he was longing for his ex-girlfriend. The sad song gave him a happy ending though: They got back together after it was released and eventually got married.
"Hunger Strike" by Temple of the Dog features Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder, and was Vedder's first music video.
"The Way" by Fastball was inspired by the story of an elderly couple from Texas who drove to a nearby family reunion and kept going. Fastball's bass player imagined them taking off and having fun like they were young. The story didn't end well: the couple was later found dead after they crashed in a canyon.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers' biggest hit is "Under The Bridge," a ballad not typical of their sound. Frontman Anthony Kiedis wrote the lyric after an acute bout of loneliness.
Hozier's "Take Me to Church" drew inspiration from the atheist writer Christopher Hitchens. He called it "a bit of a losing your religion song."
Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.
You may not recognize his name, but you will certainly recognize Peter Lord's songs. He wrote the bevy of hits from Paula Abdul's second album, Spellbound.
Wolfgang Van Halen breaks down the songs on his debut album, Mammoth WVH, and names the definitive Van Halen songs from the Sammy and Dave eras.
For songwriters, Johnny represents the American man. He has been angry, cool, magic, a rebel and, of course, marching home.
The Third Day frontman talks about some of the classic songs he wrote with the band, and what changed for his solo country album.
In the summer of 1990, you could get arrested for selling a 2 Live Crew album or performing their songs in Southern Florida. And that's exactly what happened.