On Missy Elliott's "Work It," the backward vocal is the previous line, "Put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it," in reverse. She stumbled on it when the engineer played it backward by mistake.
The line "satellite of love" in the Def Leppard song "Rocket" came from the title of a 1972 Lou Reed song.
Bruce Springsteen's "Streets Of Philadelphia" won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1994, beating out Neil Young's "Philadelphia," which was also written for the movie Philadelphia.
Cake lead singer John McCrea says their song "The Distance" is about the "failure of success." No matter how much we strive for victory, we'll always want more, particularly in the corporate world.
"Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" refers to "Hova," which is what Jay-Z calls his God Name. Jay-Hova, as in Jehovah.
If what you get equals what you give away, you might as well give it all away. That's the concept behind "Give It Away" by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?
Did Eric Clapton really steal George's wife? What's the George Harrison-Monty Python connection? Set the record straight with our Fact or Fiction quiz.
Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."
With the band in danger of being dropped from their label, Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith co-wrote the song that started their trek from horror show curiosity to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Waters tells the "Gypsy Woman" story, shares some of her songwriting insights, and explains how Dennis Rodman ended up on one of her songs.
Andrew Farriss on writing with Michael Hutchence, the stories behind "Mystify" and other INXS hits, and his country-flavored debut solo album.