The line, "I feel the snakebite enter my veins," led many to believe the Godsmack song "Voodoo" is about drugs, but it's really about Wiccan ritual, inspired in part by the Wes Craven movie The Serpent and the Rainbow.
"Regulate" by Warren G. & Nate Dogg broke new ground by sampling a mellow, melodic hit from the '80s: "I Keep Forgettin'" by Michael McDonald.
The actress Michelle Pfeiffer gets namechecked in the 2014 megahit "Uptown Funk" ("Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold"). When it was released, "Riptide" by Vance Joy was on the charts; that song also mentions her ("Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen").
"Sloop John B" is a traditional West Indian folk song, and it was a huge hit for The Beach Boys in 1966. They tweaked the lyric, "This is the worst trip since I've been born" to "...I've ever been on" as a wink to acid culture.
Neil Young later apologized for "Southern Man," calling it "accusatory and condescending" in its portrayal of the American South.
"Rosanna" by Toto got its name from the actress Rosanna Arquette, who was dating Toto keyboard player Steve Porcaro.
The man who brought us "Red Skies" and "Saved By Zero" is now an organic farmer in France.
With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."
Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.
Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.
MTV, a popular TV theme song and Madonna all show up in this '80s music quiz.
These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.