Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff" deals with police brutality in the Trenchtown section of Jamaica, where he grew up. He felt that police assumed young men in the area were all criminals.
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.
The title "25 Or 6 To 4" by Chicago refers to the time it was written: either 25 minutes to 4 (3:35) or 26 (3:34).
MTV wanted Weezer to record a version of their song "Hash Pipe" as "Half Pipe" to appeal to the skateboarding crowd. The band refused, and MTV listed the song as "H*** Pipe."
"Heart of Glass" was Blondie's first foray into disco, which turned off some fans. Debbie Harry said they did it because they "wanted to be uncool."
Journey lead singer Steve Perry wrote the rather dramatic "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" with the opening lyrics, "You make me weep, I wanna die," after seeing his girlfriend kissing another man.
Whether he's splitting ears or burning Nazis, Quentin Tarantino uses memorable music in his films. See if you can match the song to the scene.
Do their first three albums have French titles? Is "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" really meaningless? See if you can tell in this Fact or Fiction.
When you free your mind, your ass may follow, but you have to make sure someone else doesn't program it while it's wide open.
Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."
His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."
Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.