Eddie Vedder often changes the words when he sings "Yellow Ledbetter." The basic story is about a guy whose brother dies in the first Gulf War. Apparently, bad news in the army is delivered in yellow envelopes.
Jimmy Webb was inspired to write The 5th Dimension song "Up-Up and Away" after seeing a hot-air balloon his friend flew on promotions for the Southern California radio station KMEN.
The Pretenders are named after the 1956 song "The Great Pretender" by The Platters.
"Just Be Good To Me" by The S.O.S. Band was the first hit written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who worked on Janet Jackson's Control album a few years later. They were members of The Time, a group created by Prince.
"Are You Gonna Go My Way" by Lenny Kravitz is from the perspective of Jesus Christ: "I am the chosen I'm the one."
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.
A talented lyricist, Philip helped revive Neil Sedaka's career with the words to "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood."
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.
Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.
Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.
As Procol Harum's lyricist, Keith wrote the words to "A Whiter Shade Of Pale." We delve into that song and find out how you can form a band when you don't sing or play an instrument.
Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.