Neil Young was married when he wrote "Cinnamon Girl," which clearly was not about his wife. He had a hard time explaining it to her.
MTV wanted Weezer to record a version of their song "Hash Pipe" as "Half Pipe" to appeal to the skateboarding crowd. The band refused, and MTV listed the song as "H*** Pipe."
"Name" by The Goo Goo Dolls was partly inspired by lead singer John Rzeznik's flirtation with the MTV VJ Kennedy, who didn't want him to tell anyone her real name.
Taylor Swift used a line from "Blank Space" on party favors at her wedding to Travis Kelce: "So it's gonna be forever..." It's Kelce's favorite Taylor Swift song.
One of the most successful cover songs is Fugees' "Killing Me Softly," a 1996 reworking of Roberta Flack's 1973 hit. Originally, Fugees wanted to change the title to "Killing Him Softly" and make it about the dangers of drug abuse.
Bob Seger's "Against The Wind" has the famous mind-bending line, "Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then." Seger was going to cut it, but his Eagles buddies Glenn Frey and Don Henley told him it was the best line in the song.
Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.
These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.
The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.
"25 or 6 to 4" to "Semi-Charmed Life" - see if you can spot the songs that are really about drugs.
Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."
At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.