"What A Wonderful World," released in 1967 four years before Louis Armstrong died, didn't find an audience in America until 1988 when it was used in the movie Good Morning, Vietnam.
"Slow Hand" was a #1 Country hit for Conway Twitty in 1982, a year after The Pointer Sisters recorded it.
"Fight The Power" was written for the Spike Lee movie Do The Right Thing. It opens the film and serves as the motif.
The Cure lead singer Robert Smith wrote "Lovesong" as a wedding present for his fiancée, Mary, shortly before their marriage. They met when he was 14; he says Mary helped him through many difficult periods and essentially saved his life.
The chorus of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir" in "Lady Marmalade" is French for "Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" When Labelle performed it on television, they had to change it to "Voulez-vous danser avec moi ce soir" (Do you want to dance with me tonight?).
"Tenderness" by General Public was partly inspired by the outbreak of AIDS, which at the time was thought to be contagious.
Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.
Steppenwolf frontman John Kay talks about "Magic Carpet Ride," "Born To Be Wild," and what he values more than awards and accolades.
Switchfoot's frontman and main songwriter on what inspires the songs and how he got the freedom to say exactly what he means.
Michael tells the story of "Send Me On My Way," and explains why some of the words in the song don't have a literal meaning.
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.
We've heard of artists putting their hearts into their music, but some take it literally.