The Ben Folds Five song "Brick" is about a difficult time when Folds' girlfriend got an abortion.
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band-Aid was the first big group charity single. It was organized by Bob Geldof, who a year later put together "We Are The World" and Live Aid.
Hoyt Axton wrote the Three Dog Night hit "Joy To The World." He said the "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" line just came into his head after having a drink of wine.
It was never a big hit, but "She's A Rainbow" became one of the most popular Rolling Stones songs in the digital age when it started showing up in commercials (iMac, Photoshop), and TV shows (American Horror Story: Coven, Ted Lasso).
"It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy was based on an Eddie Murphy comedy bit where he would deny everything no matter how badly he was caught.
"Louie Louie" was first recorded in 1955 by an R&B singer named Richard Berry, and his lyrics are easy to understand. When The Kingsmen recorded the hit version, their lyrics were indecipherable.
Mike is lead guitarist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and co-writer of classic songs like "Boys Of Summer," "Refugee" and "The Heart Of The Matter."
Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.
Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.
Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner and Glenn Tipton talk twin guitar harmonies and explain how they create songs in Judas Priest.
Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.
