"After Midnight" was written by the Oklahoma guitarist J.J. Cale, who was dirt poor until Eric Clapton recorded his song and turned it into a hit.
There's a lot of Americana in "Uncle John's Band" by the Grateful Dead, including references to "Buckdancer's Choice" (an Appalachian folk song) and "Fire And Ice," a Robert Frost poem.
Iggy Pop wrote "Lust For Life" with David Bowie, who came up with the music on a ukulele.
Bob Marley's backup singers, The I Threes, claim they are the "Three Little Birds" in his famous song.
The eerie percussion and guitar for Portsihead's "Sour Times" was sampled from Lalo Schifrin's "Danube Incident," music composed by the Argentine composer for an episode of Mission Impossible.
"Killing An Arab" by The Cure was inspired by Albert Camus' book The Stranger.
Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.
The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."
Shows like Dawson's Creek, Grey's Anatomy and Buffy the Vampire Slayer changed the way songs were heard on TV, and produced some hits in the process.
Holly Knight talks about some of the hit songs she wrote, including "The Warrior," "Never" and "The Best," and explains some songwriting philosophy, including how to think of a bridge.
The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.
The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.