"I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" by Elton John was written for the sister of actress Rene Russo. Bernie Taupin, who wrote the lyrics, was married to Rene's sister, Toni.
"St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" was not written for the movie, but for Rick Hanson, a wheelchair athlete whose 1985 "Man In Motion" tour logged 24,856 miles on his wheelchair in 34 countries while raising $26 million for spinal cord research.
The You Me at Six song "The Dilemma" got its title from the Vince Vaughn movie of the same name.
"Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers was inspired by the Jack Lemmon movie Days of Wine and Roses.
Songwriter Wayne Carson came up with "Always On My Mind" on the phone to his wife when he was apologizing to her for being stuck at the office.
"Name" by The Goo Goo Dolls was partly inspired by lead singer John Rzeznik's flirtation with the MTV VJ Kennedy, who didn't want him to tell anyone her real name.
The stories behind "Shine," "December," "The World I Know" and other Collective Soul hits.
The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.
Joe talks about the challenges of of making a Duke Ellington tribute album, and tells the stories behind some of his hits.
"London Bridge," "Ring Around the Rosie" and "It's Raining, It's Pouring" are just a few examples of shockingly morbid children's songs.
Devo founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale take us into their world of subversive performance art. They may be right about the De-Evoloution thing.
Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.
