Sia Furler wrote "Titanium" and wanted to give the tune to Katy Perry. She turned it down, so David Guetta recorded it instead using Sia's original demo guide vocal. It became a big hit, especially in the UK, where it went to #1.
John Legend wrote "All Of Me" about his fiancée Chrissy Teigen. He sang it to her at their wedding ceremony in Como, Italy.
"We Will Become Silhouettes" by The Postal Service sounds happy and fun, but it's a very bleak song about a nuclear winter. Lead singer Ben Gibbard wrote the lyric while ruminating over 9/11.
An unexpected guest vocal: Marianne Faithfull on the Metallica song "The Memory Remains." A star in the '60s, this collaboration helped revive her career.
Meghan Trainor wrote "Lips Are Movin" in just eight minutes with her writing partner Kevin Kadish. Inspiration for the song was frustration with Trainor's record label.
The line in John Mellencamp's "Cherry Bomb" that sounds like "that's when a smoke was a smoke" is actually "that's when a sport was a sport," according to the published lyric. In that sense, "sport" is an endearment for someone of good nature.
"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.
We've heard of artists putting their hearts into their music, but some take it literally.
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.
His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."
Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.
Edie Brickell on her collaborations with Paul Simon, Steve Martin and Willie Nelson, and her 2021 album with the New Bohemians.