"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow started with the first line from an obscure poem called "Fun" that read, "All I wanna do is have some fun."
"Every Breath You Take" by The Police feels like a love song, but a careful listen reveals it's about a stalker. Sting called it "a nasty little song, really rather evil. It's about jealousy and surveillance and ownership."
The first Good Charlotte hit, "Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous," is a send-up of celebrity culture, but the group's leaders, Joel and Benji Madden, both married celebrities: Nicole Richie and Cameron Diaz, respectively.
Cyndi Lauper came up with the title "Time After Time" when she saw it in TV Guide magazine. It's the name of a 1979 movie about a man who invents a time machine.
The bedrock of David Guetta's Nicki Minaj-featuring single "Hey Mama" is a sample of "Rosie," a 1940s prison recording from folk archivist Alan Lomax that songwriter Esther Dean first showed the French DJ on YouTube.
The Nicolette Larson hit "Lotta Love" was written by Neil Young, who recorded a very different version of the song.
The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.
Chris tells the story of "Wicked Game," talks milkshakes and moonpies at Sun Records, and explains why women always get their way.
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.
The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.
After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."