The philosophical Kansas song "Dust In The Wind" is inspired by a line of Native American poetry: "For all we are is dust in the wind."
Barry Manilow didn't write his #1 hit "I Write The Songs." Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys wrote it.
In her 2020 memoir, Mariah Carey revealed that "Honey" is about her fling with New York Yankees superstar Derek Jeter. She and her husband, Tommy Mottola, were in the midst of a breakup.
The lyric to "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips was inspired by Chynna Phillips' struggles with addiction. "Hold on for one more day" is something she heard in AA meetings.
Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" spent 24 weeks on top of the Country chart - the most ever until Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road" was #1 for 34 weeks. The record was previously held by Eddy Arnold's "I'll Hold You in My Heart (1947-48), Hank Snow's "I'm Moving On" (1950-51) and Webb Pierce's "In the Jailhouse Now" (1955), which each led for 21 weeks.
Katy Perry's breakout hit, "I Kissed A Girl," was surprising to those familiar with her past: Her parents were pastors and she started off singing Christian music.
Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.
Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset.
Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.
Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.
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.
Test your metal - Priest, Maiden, and Beavis and Butt-head show up in this one.