When "Turn On The Radio" topped the January 1, 2011 Country chart, Reba McEntire became the first female solo act to have a #1 hit on that tally in four straight decades.
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.
Taio Cruz throws his hands up "sometimes" in "Dynamite" because the song was originally written about surrender.
"If It Makes You Happy" by Sheryl Crow is about the sour grapes some of her collaborators from her first album expressed to the media when they felt slighted.
The first Good Charlotte hit, "Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous," is a send-up of celebrity culture, but the group's leaders, Joel and Benji Madden, both married celebrities: Nicole Richie and Cameron Diaz, respectively.
The voice is that says "here we go" in the AJR song "Bang!" belongs to Charlie Pellett, the announcer on the New York City subway ("stand clear of the closing doors, please").
Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.
Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.
"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.
Ron Nevison explains in very clear terms the Quadrophenia concept and how Heart staged their resurgence after being dropped by their record company.
Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.
"London Bridge," "Ring Around the Rosie" and "It's Raining, It's Pouring" are just a few examples of shockingly morbid children's songs.