"One Way Or Another" is based on a stalker who creeped out Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry.
Pete Townshend wrote the lyrics for "My Generation" by The Who during a train ride from London to Southampton on his 20th birthday when he was thinking about "trying to find a place in society."
Michael Jackson's "Liberian Girl" opens with the South African female singer Letta Mbulu saying the Swahili phrase "Naku penda piya-naku taka piya-mpenziwe." There was some geographic liberty here, as Swahili is not spoken in the West African nation of Liberia.
Many assumed Train's breakthrough hit, "Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me)," is about a woman who leaves a relationship to find herself. Lead singer Pat Monahan actually wrote it after having a dream about his mother, who was "back in the atmosphere" after dying of cancer.
Avril Lavigne's 2011 song "Darlin" was written much earlier; she says it's the second song she ever wrote, composed when she was an unsigned 15-year-old living in Napanee, Ontario. The song reflects those years when she was "trying to figure it all out."
The definitive Dave Matthews Band song, "Ants Marching" is a look at monotony, something they avoid by improvising at concerts and mixing up their setlists.
Find out how God and glam metal go together from the Stryper frontman.
When Dave recorded the first version of the song with his group the Blasters, producer Nick Lowe gave him some life-changing advice.
Untangling the events that led to the "Stairway To Heaven" lawsuit.
Tom talks about the evolution of Cinderella's songs through their first three albums, and how he writes as a solo artist.
Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.
Roger tells the stories behind some of his biggest hits, including "Give a Little Bit," "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical Song."