"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow started with the first line from an obscure poem called "Fun" that read, "All I wanna do is have some fun."
Damon Albarn found inspiration for Blur's Britpop classic "Girls & Boys" while on holiday in Majorca. He noted that in the club scene there was "no morality involved."
David Bowie's "Let's Dance" is about more than just dancing. It's about dishonesty, particularly when we mask our true feelings.
Billy Ocean's "Caribbean Queen" was originally released as "European Queen," and it underperformed. When it was issued in America as "Caribbean Queen" it went to #1 and revived his career.
One of the most enduring songs from the '90s is "Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls, which got huge on social media and streaming in the 2020s. The song was written for a movie called City Of Angels, about an angel (Nicolas Cage) who falls in love with a human (Meg Ryan).
When the Velvet Underground song "Heroin" got screechy, Maureen Tucker stopped drumming, figuring it would bust the take, but her bandmates kept going. You can hear it at the 5:20 mark.
Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?
"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."
Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.
A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.
"25 or 6 to 4" to "Semi-Charmed Life" - see if you can spot the songs that are really about drugs.
Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.