Elvis Presley recorded "Always On My Mind" in 1972, but Willie Nelson's version 10 years later was the hit and won the Song of the Year Grammy.
Tom Cochrane wrote "Life Is A Highway" to pull himself out of a funk following an exhausting humanitarian trip to Africa.
"Jessie's Girl" was the #1 song in America when MTV went on the air. They put it in hot rotation right away, making the song even more popular.
The guys who wrote "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" had never been to a baseball game but knew it was a good song topic.
R.E.M. got the title "Shiny Happy People" from a Chinese propaganda poster.
Katmandu, the capital of Nepal, was the archetype for faraway mysticism when Bob Seger wrote a song about it in 1975.
One of Canada's most popular and eclectic performers, Hawksley tells stories about his oldest songs, his plentiful side projects, and the ways that he keeps his songwriting fresh.
When he joined Guns N' Roses in 1990, Matt helped them craft an orchestral sound; his mezzo fortes and pianissimos are all over "November Rain."
Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.
In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.
Even before Soundgarden wrote a song about him, Artis was the most famous spoon player of all time. So why has he always been broke?
Doubt led to drive for Francis, who still isn't sure why one of Status Quo's biggest hits is so beloved.
