"Rockin' In The Free World" is a very pro-America title, but in the song, Neil Young takes on politicians who are indifferent to the poor and disenfranchised.
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo wrote "Beverly Hills" after seeing a photo of the group Wilson Phillips and imagining what it would be like to marry someone famous.
"Celebration" by Kool & the Gang has a deeper meaning - it was inspired by a verse in the Quran where angels celebrate as God creates man.
The Goo Goo Dolls got the title for their song "Iris" from a country singer named Iris DeMent. The word doesn't show up in the lyric; lead singer Johnny Rzeznik said he was "trying to be pretentious and arty by calling it that."
Otis Redding often ad-libbed vocals at the end of songs, but for "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" he just whistled instead - it became some of the most famous whistling in song history.
It was never a big hit, but "She's A Rainbow" became one of the most popular Rolling Stones songs in the digital age when it started showing up in commercials (iMac, Photoshop), and TV shows (American Horror Story: Coven, Ted Lasso).
The country hitmaker talks about his debut album, A Rock, and how a nursery rhyme inspired his hit single "One Beer."
In the summer of 1990, you could get arrested for selling a 2 Live Crew album or performing their songs in Southern Florida. And that's exactly what happened.
Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.
Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.
Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).
Rudolf, Bob Dylan and the Singing Dogs all show up in this Fact or Fiction for seasonal favorites.