Sarah McLachlan wrote "Angel" about the Smashing Pumpkins touring keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin, who overdosed on heroin and died in 1996.
45% of the royalties for "Somebody That I Used To Know" go to the estate of the Brazilian classical guitarist Luiz Bonfá, whose song "Seville" Gotye sampled.
In the Belly song "Feed The Tree," the title is a reference to bodies buried under a large tree, thus feeding it. The song is about death, and also respect - take your hat off for those feeding the tree!
The Squeeze song "Tempted" is one of their few with lead vocals by Paul Carrack, who sang the Ace song "How Long" and was in Mike + The Mechanics.
Avril Lavigne has a perfume named after her song "Black Star." It smells much better than her Sk8er Boi scent, which reeks of Axe body spray and road grime.
"1979" by Smashing Pumpkins is about Billy Corgan entering adulthood. A more accurate year would be 1983, but 1979 was easier to rhyme.
These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.
Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.
Long before Eminem, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj created alternate personas, David Bowie, Bono, Joni Mitchell and even Hank Williams took on characters.
Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."
On "Life Is A Highway," his burgeoning solo career, and the Rascal Flatts song he most connects with.
