Pete Townshend wrote The Who's "Pinball Wizard" to coax a good review for the Tommy album out of a rock critic who loved pinball. It worked.
Bono wrote U2's song "Sweetest Thing" for his wife to make up for working on her birthday. For the video, he staged an "apology parade," complete with Irish step dancers and an elephant.
"Run To You" by Bryan Adams was written for Blue Oyster Cult, and the guitar part is modeled after "Don't Fear The Reaper." BOC turned it down, so Adams recorded it for his album Reckless.
"It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy was based on an Eddie Murphy comedy bit where he would deny everything no matter how badly he was caught.
"Light My Fire" was the first song Doors guitarist Robby Krieger wrote. Looking for a universal theme, he decided to write about one of the four elements (air, earth, water, fire).
Lady Gaga is a big fan of horror movies; listen for the names of these three Alfred Hitchcock films in the lyrics to "Bad Romance": Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window.
The stories behind "Whole Of The Moon" and "Red Army Blues," and why rock music has "outlived its era of innovation."
Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.
The drummer for Anthrax is also a key songwriter. He explains how the group puts their songs together and tells the stories behind some of their classics.
Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.
How well do you know your David Bowie lyrics? Take this quiz to find out.
Switchfoot's frontman and main songwriter on what inspires the songs and how he got the freedom to say exactly what he means.