The idea for "The Man Comes Around" came to Johnny Cash from a dream he had where he was in Buckingham Palace and the Queen said to him, "Johnny Cash, you're just like a thorn tree in a whirlwind."
"The Rubberband Man" is a "short, fat guy" with rhythm and grace. Spinners producer Thom Bell wrote it to boost the self-esteem of his rotund son.
The Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Fortunate Son" is about how the Vietnam war was being fought by soldiers without the privilege or connections to get out of it. "It's the old saying about rich men making war and poor men having to fight them," John Fogerty said.
"Livin' La Vida Loca" is a Latin pop landmark, but "la vida loca" are the only Spanish words in the lyric - "mocha" is English.
After a devastating car accident, the actor Montgomery Clift had to be filmed from "The Right Profile" to look good - that provided the name of The Clash song.
Ronnie Van Zant wrote the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic "Gimme Three Steps" after making the mistake of dancing with a girl whose boyfriend was in the bar and probably had a gun. He asked for a 3-step head start.
The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.
Did Eric Clapton really steal George's wife? What's the George Harrison-Monty Python connection? Set the record straight with our Fact or Fiction quiz.
An interview with Frankie Valli, who talks about why his songs - both solo and with The Four Seasons - have endured, and reflects on his time as Rusty Millio on The Sopranos.
How a goofy detective movie, a disenchanted director and an unlikely songwriter led to one of the biggest hits in pop history.
His song "Into The Night" is one of the most-played of all time. For Benny, it took him to hell and back.
