The Sam & Dave classic "Soul Man" was re-recorded by Sam Moore and Lou Reed for the 1986 movie Soul Man, about a white guy who pretends to be black so he can get a scholarship to Harvard.
John Mellencamp considers "Pink Houses" an "anti-American song," laying bare the struggles of the poor and working class.
"Mr. Roboto" by Styx was written by their keyboard player, Dennis DeYoung, who used Japanese words and imagery to create an allegory about censorship.
16-tear-old Lorde wrote the lyrics to "Royals" at home in just half an hour. She was inspired by the "ridiculous, unrelatable, unattainable opulence" that runs through such albums as Kanye West and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne and Lana Del Rey's Born To Die.
The video for "Informer" by Snow that ran on MTV was subtitled so viewers could understand what he was saying.
David Bowie's "Let's Dance" is about more than just dancing. It's about dishonesty, particularly when we mask our true feelings.
Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Mila Kunis and John Malkovich are just a few of the film stars who have moonlighted in music videos.
Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.
If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.
How the American gangsta rappers made history by getting banned in the UK.
'80s music ambassadors Wang Chung pick their top tracks of the decade, explaining what makes each one so special.
We've heard of artists putting their hearts into their music, but some take it literally.