"Paranoid" reflects a feeling Black Sabbath bass player Geezer Butler often felt after using drugs.
Creedence Clearwater Revival's first single was a cover of a rockabilly song called "Susie Q." When it became a hit, group leader John Fogerty went into a songwriting frenzy so they wouldn't be one-hit wonders, resulting in hits like "Proud Mary" and "Lodi."
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.
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.
Mariah Carey's "My All" is about her affair with New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.
John Mellencamp considers "Pink Houses" an "anti-American song," laying bare the struggles of the poor and working class.
Webb talks about his classic songs "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman" and "MacArthur Park."
Glen Ballard talks about co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill album, and his work with Dave Matthews, Aerosmith and Annie Lennox.
How a gym teacher, a janitor, and a junkie became part of some very famous band names.
The man who brought us "Red Skies" and "Saved By Zero" is now an organic farmer in France.
Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.
The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.