Billy Joel's song "Allentown" was written as "Levittown," which is the town in Long Island where he grew up. He got the idea to change it after taking a trip to Pennsylvania.
The "Doctor of philosophy" in the Indigo Girls' song "Closer To Fine" is based on a teacher Emily Saliers had who had a poster of Rasputin on his door.
"1979" by Smashing Pumpkins is about Billy Corgan entering adulthood. A more accurate year would be 1983, but 1979 was easier to rhyme.
The song "Without You," a hit for Nilsson in 1972 and Mariah Carey in 1994, was written and originally recorded by Badfinger in 1970.
When Marc Cohn played "True Companion" to his girlfriend, she thought he was proposing. He wasn't, but he did eventually marry her.
Bing Crosby debuted the song "White Christmas" in the 1942 movie Holiday Inn, where he plays a New Yorker stuck in Southern California for Christmas and missing the snow. The song became a Christmas classic and the basis for the 1954 movie White Christmas, also starring Crosby.
Cain talks about the divine inspirations for "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Faithfully."
Before "Rap" was a form of music, it was something guys did to pick up girls in nightclubs. Donnie talks about "The Rapper" and reveals the identity of Leah.
In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.
One of the most dynamic bass player/songwriters of his time, Chris is the only member of Yes who has been with the band since they formed in 1968.
He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."
