Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A." was inspired by the book (later a movie) Born On The Fourth Of July by Ron Kovic, a Vietnam veteran who protested the war when he returned home.
Foreigner got the title for "Double Vision" after watching a hockey game where goalie John Davidson got a concussion. It was announced over the PA system that he was suffering from "Double Vision."
"Instant Karma" is one of John Lennon's most hopeful songs, written and recorded in one day at a time when he felt people were pulling together in a positive direction.
Kid Rock's "All Summer Long" is a mashup of "Werewolves Of London" and "Sweet Home Alabama." The album it came from was released in October, 2007, but the song wasn't issued as a single until summer, 2008 for a more seasonable release.
The dirty version of Cee-Lo Green's "Forget You" contains 16 F-bombs. He recorded a clean version as an afterthought, "just in case."
The MTV classic "Voices Carry" is by 'Til Tuesday, a group fronted by Aimee Mann. She wrote the lyric about a friend who's partner wanted to keep their fling a secret.
He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."
When a waitress wouldn't take him home, Jack wrote what would become one of the Eagles most enduring hits.
The stories behind the biggest hit songs about trucking.
The former Dead Kennedys frontman on the past, present and future of the band, what music makes us "pliant and stupid," and what he learned from Alice Cooper.
Todd Rundgren explains why he avoids "Hello It's Me," and what it was like producing Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album.
Since emerging from MySpace with her hit "Bubbly," Colbie has become a top songwriter, even crafting a hit with Taylor Swift.