"Peg" by Steely Dan is told from the perspective of Peg's jilted ex-boyfriend as he watches her launch an acting career.
"Mr. Roboto" by Styx was written by their keyboard player, Dennis DeYoung, who used Japanese words and imagery to create an allegory about censorship.
Sam Smith's "Writing's On The Wall" was the first ever James Bond theme song to reach #1 in the UK.
If what you get equals what you give away, you might as well give it all away. That's the concept behind "Give It Away" by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
"Love Is A Battlefield" was written as a ballad, but Pat Benatar's guitarist/husband turned it into an uptempo song.
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was supposed to be titled "In The Garden Of Eden," but someone in the studio wrote down the title phonetically, and it stuck.
Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.
Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.
Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.
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 Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.
Switchfoot's frontman and main songwriter on what inspires the songs and how he got the freedom to say exactly what he means.