
"Love Is A Battlefield" was written as a ballad, but Pat Benatar's guitarist/husband turned it into an uptempo song.

One of the most successful cover songs is Fugees' "Killing Me Softly," a 1996 reworking of Roberta Flack's 1973 hit. Originally, Fugees wanted to change the title to "Killing Him Softly" and make it about the dangers of drug abuse.

The guys from Chic wrote "Le Freak" as a message to a doorman who wouldn't let them into a club. Originally, it was "F--- Off."

War got the idea for "Why Can't We Be Friends?" when they were traveling in Japan and found they had a kinship with the citizens even though they didn't speak the same language.

Eddie Van Halen played the guitar solo on "Beat It" as a favor to Quincy Jones, who produced the album.

Billy Joel's song "Allentown" was written as "Levittown," which is the town in Long Island where he grew up. He got the idea to change it after taking a trip to Pennsylvania.
Toto's keyboard player explains the true meaning of "Africa" and talks about working on the Thriller album.
Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.
Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.
Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.
The Sevendust frontman talks about the group's songwriting process, and how trips to the Murder Bar helped forge their latest album.
The longtime Eagle talks about soaring back to his solo career, and what he learned about songwriting in the group.