The Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Fortunate Son" is about how the Vietnam war was being fought by soldiers without the privilege or connections to get out of it. "It's the old saying about rich men making war and poor men having to fight them," John Fogerty said.
In Led Zeppelin's "Fool In The Rain," the guy goes into a funk when he thinks he's been stood up, but is elated when he realizes he's been standing on the wrong corner, and it's all a terrible mess.
"Irreplaceable" wasn't specifically penned for Beyonce - in fact, Ne-Yo wrote it more as a country song and had Faith Hill and Shania Twain in mind.
"Personal Jesus," a song about "being a Jesus for somebody else," was inspired by Elvis and Priscilla Presley.
"November Rain" by Guns N' Roses has a literary influence: The lyric is based on a story called Without You by Del James.
"All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey was the first ringtone certified Gold.
Ozzy, Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest and even Michael Bolton show up in this Classic Metal quiz.
Dean wrote the screenplay and lyrics to all the songs in Footloose. His other hits include "Fame" and "All The Man That I Need."
Tim and his brother Richard are the Furs' foundation; Tim explains how they write and tells the story of "Pretty In Pink."
The Sevendust frontman talks about the group's songwriting process, and how trips to the Murder Bar helped forge their latest album.
What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.
Devo founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale take us into their world of subversive performance art. They may be right about the De-Evoloution thing.