It has long been speculated that the Soundgarden song "Black Hole Sun" came from the name of a sculpture in Seattle, but according to their frontman Chris Cornell the title came from a phrase he misheard on the news. The band's name did come from a sculpture.
One of the moodiest hits of the '90s is "Creep" by Radiohead. It was the group's first single, and to their dismay, it became their biggest hit - it wasn't the song they wanted to be known for.
Blur's "There Are Too Many of Us" was inspired in part by a siege in an Australian chocolate café that Damon Albarn witnessed, which resulted in the death of the gunman and two hostages.
Train wrote the 2011 song "Brand New Book" for the TV show The Biggest Loser - part of the song was used in the opening credits.
The Queen song "Killer Queen," according to lead singer Freddie Mercury, is about a high-class call girl.
The actress Michelle Pfeiffer gets namechecked in the 2014 megahit "Uptown Funk" ("Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold"). When it was released, "Riptide" by Vance Joy was on the charts; that song also mentions her ("Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen").
"London Bridge," "Ring Around the Rosie" and "It's Raining, It's Pouring" are just a few examples of shockingly morbid children's songs.
The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."
Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.
Was a Beatles song a TV theme? And who came up with those Fresh Prince and Sopranos songs?
Charlie discusses the songs that made him a Southern Rock icon, and settles the Devil vs. Johnny argument once and for all.
Many unusual folks appear in Grateful Dead songs. Can you identify them?