Thanks to a Newsweek article, there was a long-standing rumor that Bob Dylan stole the song "Blowin' In The Wind."
War got the idea for "Why Can't We Be Friends?" when they were traveling in Japan and found they had a kinship with the citizens even though they didn't speak the same language.
The Mission: Impossible theme is in 5/4 time. Composer Lalo Schifrin joked that he did it so 5-legged aliens could dance to it.
"Man On The Moon" by R.E.M. is about the comedian Andy Kaufman, who often seemed like he was from another planet.
When he met Delilah DiCrescenzo, Plain White T's lead singer Tom Higgenson told her he'd write a song about her, and came up with the first verse of "Hey There Delilah" on the spot.
"Louie Louie" was first recorded in 1955 by an R&B singer named Richard Berry, and his lyrics are easy to understand. When The Kingsmen recorded the hit version, their lyrics were indecipherable.
Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.
Tyler talks about his true love: songwriting. How he identifies the beauty in a melody and turns sorrow into art.
Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.
Cain talks about the divine inspirations for "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Faithfully."
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.
Michael tells the story of "Send Me On My Way," and explains why some of the words in the song don't have a literal meaning.
