The MTV classic "Voices Carry" is by 'Til Tuesday, a group fronted by Aimee Mann. She wrote the lyric about a friend who's partner wanted to keep their fling a secret.
Neil Young was married when he wrote "Cinnamon Girl," which clearly was not about his wife. He had a hard time explaining it to her.
Mariah Carey's song "The Roof" is about her first kiss with Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.
Demi Lovato recorded a Spanish version of her song "Skyscraper," but she doesn't speak Spanish. She performed it on a Latin music awards show with help from a teleprompter.
"Jessie's Girl" was the #1 song in America when MTV went on the air. They put it in hot rotation right away, making the song even more popular.
Al Green's "Take Me to the River" describes a baptism. Two years later, he became a reverend.
What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?
Steve Cropper on the making of "In the Midnight Hour," the chicken-wire scene in The Blues Brothers, and his 2021 album, Fire It Up.
Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.
"Mony Mony," "Crimson and Clover," "Draggin' The Line"... the hits kept coming for Tommy James, and in a plot line fit for a movie, his record company was controlled by the mafia.
Known in America for the hit "If You Leave," OMD is a huge influence on modern electronic music.
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.