"Come Dancing" by The Kinks was inspired by the older sister of Ray Davies, who would make guys take her out dancing and spend their money on her, only to send them home frustrated with just a peck on the cheek.
"Abracadabra" was inspired by Diana Ross and The Supremes. Steve Miller first met the girl group when they performed together on NBC's Hullabaloo in 1966, and he wrote the lyrics after spotting Diana Ross skiing in the mountains years later.
The bedrock of David Guetta's Nicki Minaj-featuring single "Hey Mama" is a sample of "Rosie," a 1940s prison recording from folk archivist Alan Lomax that songwriter Esther Dean first showed the French DJ on YouTube.
When the Christian band DC Talk covered Nirvana's "All Apologies" at concerts, they would change the line "Everyone is gay" to "Jesus is the Way."
"Walking In Memphis" isn't so much about Memphis, as it is The Hollywood Cafe in Mississippi, where Marc Cohn encountered an old woman named Murial playing piano.
Marilyn Monroe is the subject of Elton John's "Candle In The Wind," but the song is really a look at how we react to celebrities who die young.
The frontman for one of Canada's most well-known punk rock bands talks about his Eddie Vedder encounter, Billy Talent's new album, and the importance of rock and roll.
Dwarfs on stage with an oversize Stonehenge set? Dabbling in Satanism? Find out which Spinal Tap-moments were true for Black Sabbath.
Richie talks about the impact of "Amazed," and how his 4-year-old son inspired another Lonestar hit.
As Procol Harum's lyricist, Keith wrote the words to "A Whiter Shade Of Pale." We delve into that song and find out how you can form a band when you don't sing or play an instrument.
Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner and Glenn Tipton talk twin guitar harmonies and explain how they create songs in Judas Priest.
Lyrics don't always follow the rules of grammar. Can you spot the ones that don't?
