"Don't Dream It's Over" is the biggest hit for Crowded House, whose lead singer, Neil Finn, sang it on tour when he joined Fleetwood Mac. He wrote the song when he was feeling a bit lost as a way of urging himself on.
In the Belly song "Feed The Tree," the title is a reference to bodies buried under a large tree, thus feeding it. The song is about death, and also respect - take your hat off for those feeding the tree!
"Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve samples an obscure orchestral arrangement of the 1965 Rolling Stones song "The Last Time." The Verve had to sign away most of the royalties before they could release the song.
The Men Without Hats lead singer wrote "The Safety Dance" after getting kicked out of a bar for dancing too aggressively. The song is literally about being safe to dance if you want to.
Otis Day And The Knights, the fictional band created to perform "Shout" in the movie Animal House, became a real band, performing the song at colleges and other venues.
"I Got You Babe" made Sonny Bono the only person to perform on a #1 hit and also get elected to congress.
A top country songwriter, Barry talks about writing hits for Little Big Town, Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean.
Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.
Producer Rupert Hine talks about crafting hits for Tina Turner, Howard Jones and The Fixx.
In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.
With a few clues (Works at a diner, dreams of running away), can you name the character in the song?
10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces