War got the idea for "Why Can't We Be Friends?" when they were traveling in Japan and found they had a kinship with the citizens even though they didn't speak the same language.
The Isley Brothers became the first group to score a Top 50 hit in six consecutive decades when their song "Contagious" peaked at #19 in 2001. Their first entry was their song "Shout" in 1959.
Bob Dylan's most popular song is "Like A Rolling Stone," which tells the story of a wealthy woman whose money and friends fall away. Dylan offers these mockingly encouraging words: "When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose."
The only cover of "American Pie" to chart is by Madonna, whose 2000 version was a minor hit in America but went to #1 in the UK.
"Toxic" was the most-searched song on Google in 2004 and helped Spears become the most-searched artist that year, a title she held from 1999-2001.
The French part in Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" explains that the killer is going after a girl, like Norman Bates in the movie Psycho.
Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!
Armed with a childhood spent devouring books, Mike Scott's heart was stolen by the punk rock scene of 1977. Not surprisingly, he would go on to become the most literate of rockers.
The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.
The frontman for one of Canada's most well-known punk rock bands talks about his Eddie Vedder encounter, Billy Talent's new album, and the importance of rock and roll.
With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."
"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."