The Kate Bush song "Running Up That Hill" is about making a deal with God to switch lives with your partner so there would be no more misunderstandings.
"Here Comes Your Man" is the closest the Pixies came to a hit in America. It was rumored to be about a drug dealer, but Black Francis says it's just a story about some hobos who travel by train and die in an earthquake.
The Hollies hit "The Air That I Breathe" was written in part as a reaction to the smog in Los Angeles.
"Kokomo" gave The Beach Boys their first #1 hit in 22 years. They picked the title because it sounded tropical.
New Order took the title for "Blue Monday" from an illustration, which read "Goodbye Blue Monday," in the Kurt Vonnegut book Breakfast Of Champions. The image referred to the invention of the washing machine improving housewives' lives.
"Tush" doesn't have to refer to anatomy, according to ZZ Top. It's a word that also means "lavish."
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.
If the name Citizen Dick means anything to you, there's a chance you'll get some of these right.
Faith No More's bassist, Billy Gould, chats to us about his two new experimental projects, The Talking Book and House of Hayduk, and also shares some stories from the FNM days.
A look at the good (Diana Ross, Eminem), the bad (Madonna, Bob Dylan) and the peculiar (David Bowie, Michael Jackson) film debuts of superstar singers.
David Gray explains the significance of the word "Babylon," and talks about how songs are a form of active imagination, with lyrics that reveal what's inside us.
The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."
