In 1939, a polka craze swept America thanks to "Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel)."
The guys who wrote "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" had never been to a baseball game but knew it was a good song topic.
The title of the Metallica song "Ride The Lightning" came from a line in the Stephen King book The Stand where a guy is about to be executed.
In The Band song "The Weight," Nazareth ("Went down to Nazareth") refers to a town in Pennsylvania where the Martin Guitar company was located.
In Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" what he won't do is a list of six items in the lyrics, including "Forget the way you feel right now" and "Be screwing around."
The Ozzy Osbourne song "Mr. Crowley" is about Aleister Crowley, a British practitioner of dark magic in the early 1900s.
Tim and his brother Richard are the Furs' foundation; Tim explains how they write and tells the story of "Pretty In Pink."
The guy who brought us "Stacy's Mom" also wrote the Jane Lynch Emmy song and Stephen Colbert's Christmas 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."
The Stax legend on how he cooked up "Green Onions," the first time he and Otis Redding saw hippies, and if he'll ever play a digital organ.
A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.
The "A Thousand Miles" singer on what she thinks of her song being used in White Chicks and how she captured a song from a dream.