"If It Makes You Happy" by Sheryl Crow is about the sour grapes some of her collaborators from her first album expressed to the media when they felt slighted.
The instrumental "YYZ" by Rush got its title from the transmitter code for Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto, near where the band is from.
The Doobie Brothers' swampy #1 hit "Black Water" is about the Mississippi River, evoking the rafting adventures Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn.
Bob Seger's "Against The Wind" has the famous mind-bending line, "Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then." Seger was going to cut it, but his Eagles buddies Glenn Frey and Don Henley told him it was the best line in the song.
Creedence Clearwater Revival's first single was a cover of a rockabilly song called "Susie Q." When it became a hit, group leader John Fogerty went into a songwriting frenzy so they wouldn't be one-hit wonders, resulting in hits like "Proud Mary" and "Lodi."
"Kiss On My List" by Hall & Oates is actually an anti-love song - the kiss is just one item on a list, and by no means the best.
From the cowbell on "Mississippi Queen" to recording with The Who when they got the wrong Felix, stories from one of rock's master craftsmen.
Was a Beatles song a TV theme? And who came up with those Fresh Prince and Sopranos songs?
Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.
Katy Perry mentions McDonald's, Beyoncé calls out Red Lobster, and Supertramp shouts out Taco Bell - we found the 10 restaurants most often mentioned in songs.
