References to David Bowie, Tom Waits and Allan Ginsburg are peppered into the Bush song "Everything Zen."
Neil Young wrote the CSN&Y song "Ohio" about the Kent State Shootings, when the National Guard opened fire on students at Kent State University in Ohio, killing four.
"Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia was first recorded by the group Ednaswap in 1993. It was written by Ednaswap's Anne Previn and Scott Cutler, who went on to write some hits for Miley Cyrus.
The game Lana Del Rey sings about in "Video Games" is World of Warcraft - her ex used to play it all the time.
"After Midnight" was written by the Oklahoma guitarist J.J. Cale, who was dirt poor until Eric Clapton recorded his song and turned it into a hit.
Bernie Taupin was 17 when he wrote the lyrics to Elton John's "Your Song." Looking back, he says it's "one of the most naïve and childish lyrics in the entire repertoire of music."
After studying in Paris with a famous composition teacher, Charles became the most successful writer of TV theme songs.
Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?
In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.
It wasn't her biggest hit as a songwriter (that would be "Bette Davis Eyes"), but "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" had a family connection for Jackie.
Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.
If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.