
"Handle With Care" started as a George Harrison song with guest appearances by Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, but it went so well the five of them decided to form a group - The Traveling Wilburys - and record an entire album.
"Zoot Suit Riot" isn't just a Cherry Poppin' Daddies song - the Zoot Suit Riots were real riots in Los Angeles that took place in 1943 and inspired the song's lyrics.

The UK band The Lightning Seeds of "Pure" fame got their name from a misheard line in Prince's "Raspberry Beret," mistaking "thunder drowns out what the lightning sees" for "thunder drowns out the lightning seeds."

Featured in the 1978 musical Evita, "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" became the biggest selling UK hit by a female vocalist (Julie Covington).

Elvis Costello says "Everyday I Write The Book" is a knockoff of Nick Lowe's "When I Write the Book."

Madonna didn't write "Papa Don't Preach," which deals with abortion. What drew her to the song was the singer standing up to male authority.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some rather unusual song titles - see if you can spot the real ones.
Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.
The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.
Writing great prog metal isn't easy, especially when it's for 60 musicians.
Some songs get a second life when they find a new audience through a movie, commercial, TV show, or even the Internet.
Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.