George Michael was 17 and on a bus to his job at the cinema when he came up with the idea for "Careless Whisper" and the lyrics, "Something in your eyes calls to mind a silver screen."
"The House Of The Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song, either about a brothel or a prison.
The Sam & Dave classic "Soul Man" was re-recorded by Sam Moore and Lou Reed for the 1986 movie Soul Man, about a white guy who pretends to be black so he can get a scholarship to Harvard.
"Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon was used in the film The Spy Who Loved Me. It was the first James Bond song not named after the movie.
Neil Young later apologized for "Southern Man," calling it "accusatory and condescending" in its portrayal of the American South.
The opening line in "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths is "I am the son and the heir," not "I am the sun and the air."
He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."
Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.
Just like Darrin was replaced on Bewitched, groups have swapped out original members, hoping we wouldn't notice.
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.
Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.
The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.