The James Blunt song "You're Beautiful" is not romantic: it's a about a creepy subway encounter with an ex.
"Paper Planes" was inspired by M.I.A.'s hassles trying to get a visa to enter America.
Ed Sheeran thought he wrote the x track "Photograph" on 6th Street in Denver, so he got a tattoo saying 6 ST. But when he returned it turned out the street was actually 6th Avenue.
When Marc Cohn played "True Companion" to his girlfriend, she thought he was proposing. He wasn't, but he did eventually marry her.
Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" was written by the keyboard player from Toto, who was working on the Thriller album.
"Hangin' Tough" came at the peak of New Kids On The Block mania (1988). Their writer/producer Maurice Starr wrote it about the struggles the band faced early on. It was a #1 hit in both America and the UK.
The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.
The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.
Katy Perry mentions McDonald's, Beyoncé calls out Red Lobster, and Supertramp shouts out Taco Bell - we found the 10 restaurants most often mentioned in songs.
Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.
Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?
Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.