Carly Simon wrote "Anticipation" when Cat Stevens was late for their first date. She was "anticipating" his arrival and set down with her guitar to calm her nerves.
The name "Schoolhouse Rock," which was a series of educational cartoons, was a play on "Jailhouse Rock," the title of an Elvis Presley song.
Jeff Lynne sang the word "groose" in the chorus of "Don't Bring Me Down" as a nonsense placeholder, but left it in when he found out it means "greetings" in German ("gruss").
"Open Arms" was a pioneering power ballad. Stadium rock bands like Journey shied away from slow songs, but when they reluctantly agreed to record the song, it became their biggest chart hit.
"I Want It That Way" is the most popular Backstreet Boys song, but the lyric doesn't make much sense. That's because it was written by the hitmaking swedish producers Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson, who were more worried about how it sings than what it means.
Kenny Loggins co-wrote the Doobie Brothers hit "What a Fool Believes," which is about a guy who just can't accept that an affair from long ago was meaningless to her.
How did The Edge get his name? Did they name a song after a Tolkien book? And who is "Angel of Harlem" about?
10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces
A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.
"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."
Before he was the champ, Ali released an album called I Am The Greatest!, but his musical influence is best heard in the songs he inspired.
Rick has a surprising dark side, a strong feminine side and, in a certain TV show, a naked backside. But he still hasn't found Jessie's Girl.