R.E.M. got the title "Shiny Happy People" from a Chinese propaganda poster.
Walk The Moon vocalist Nicholas Petricca got the idea for "Shut Up and Dance" when he and his girlfriend were taking forever to get drinks at a Los Angeles club bar. Petricca was getting frustrated, so his girlfriend told him to "shut up and dance with me!'"
"Don't Dream It's Over" is the biggest hit for Crowded House, whose lead singer, Neil Finn, sang it on tour when he joined Fleetwood Mac. He wrote the song when he was feeling a bit lost as a way of urging himself on.
When the Christian band DC Talk covered Nirvana's "All Apologies" at concerts, they would change the line "Everyone is gay" to "Jesus is the Way."
The James Blunt song "You're Beautiful" is not romantic: it's a about a creepy subway encounter with an ex.
Iron Maiden, Adele, Toto, Eminem and Earth, Wind & Fire are just some of the artists with songs directly inspired by movies - and not always good ones.
Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.
We've heard of artists putting their hearts into their music, but some take it literally.
Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.
The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.
