"Today" by Smashing Pumpkins is sarcastic in the line "today is the greatest day." Lead singer Billy Corgan wrote it about the crippling depression he was battling following the band's first big tour.
Eric Clapton wrote "Wonderful Tonight" while waiting for his girlfriend, Pattie Boyd, to get ready for a night out. By the time she was ready, he had written the song.
Bob Dylan's most popular song is "Like A Rolling Stone," which tells the story of a wealthy woman whose money and friends fall away. Dylan offers these mockingly encouraging words: "When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose."
The Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" is a parody of heavy metal music. Kerry King of Slayer played guitar on the track - purposefully out of tune in parts.
The chant in the Bruno Mars/Rosé hit "APT" is "apateu," the Korean word for apartment. It's named after a Korean drinking game called "Apartment" that Rosé told Bruno about.
The Lady Gaga/Beyoncé collaboration "Telephone" isn't just about turning down an unwanted caller, it's an analog for how Gaga was feeling overwhelmed, like a phone was always ringing in her head.
Chris and his wife Tina were the rhythm section for Talking Heads when they formed The Tom Tom Club. "Genius of Love" was their blockbuster, but David Byrne only mentioned it once.
Do you know who wrote Patti Smith's biggest hit? How about the Grease theme song? See if you can match the song to the writer.
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.
Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?
