The bedrock of David Guetta's Nicki Minaj-featuring single "Hey Mama" is a sample of "Rosie," a 1940s prison recording from folk archivist Alan Lomax that songwriter Esther Dean first showed the French DJ on YouTube.
"1979" by Smashing Pumpkins is about Billy Corgan entering adulthood. A more accurate year would be 1983, but 1979 was easier to rhyme.
"The Reflex" became a #1 hit for Duran Duran when Nile Rodgers remixed it using a sampler. Simon Le Bon refuses to say what it's about, but says it's "kind of childish song."
Kesha (known at the time as Ke$ha) was still pretty wild when she released her song "Crazy Kids" in 2012. It's about one of her birthday parties that got a little out of hand.
Billy Joel wrote "We Didn't Start The Fire" after a 21-year-old told him, "everyone knows that nothing happened in the '50s."
"Only Wanna Be With You" by Hootie & the Blowfish is a tribute to Bob Dylan, but Dylan sued them over it for using lyrics from his song "Idiot Wind."
The "All I Want" singer went through a long depression, playing some shows when he didn't want to be alive.
How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.
"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.
The hitmaking songwriter/producer Sam Hollander with stories about songs for Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, Train, Pentatonix, and Fitz And The Tantrums.
Shows like Dawson's Creek, Grey's Anatomy and Buffy the Vampire Slayer changed the way songs were heard on TV, and produced some hits in the process.
