
Avril Lavigne's 2011 song "Darlin" was written much earlier; she says it's the second song she ever wrote, composed when she was an unsigned 15-year-old living in Napanee, Ontario. The song reflects those years when she was "trying to figure it all out."

Shinedown lead singer Brent Smith had a band before Shinedown that was dropped by Atlantic Records, but the label offered him a development deal - that was his "Second Chance."

There's a lot of Americana in "Uncle John's Band" by the Grateful Dead, including references to "Buckdancer's Choice" (an Appalachian folk song) and "Fire And Ice," a Robert Frost poem.

Icona Pop consider "I Love It" a kiss-off to their boyfriends. "We just wanted to get the song out and get the pigs to hear it," group member Jawo said.

The songs on Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster album represent a "fear" of some "monster." "Alejandro" is her "fear of sex" monster.

Kelly Rowland was the first Destiny's Child member to have a hit away from the group: her Nelly duet "Dilemma."
An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.
Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.
Find out how God and glam metal go together from the Stryper frontman.
When you free your mind, your ass may follow, but you have to make sure someone else doesn't program it while it's wide open.