"Here Comes Your Man" is the closest the Pixies came to a hit in America. It was rumored to be about a drug dealer, but Black Francis says it's just a story about some hobos who travel by train and die in an earthquake.
Mickey Mantle and John Madden both appear in the video for "Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard" by Paul Simon. Biz Markie and Big Daddy Kane do a rap intro.
A key line in "Africa" is "I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become," which is about drifting away from what you really want in life. Toto keyboard player David Paich, who wrote the song, felt his work was consuming him.
Sting wrote "Fields of Gold" after buying a house near a barley field and enjoying the majestic sunsets.
"99 Luftballons" by Nena is about a Cold War scare when balloons showed up on radar and were mistaken as a nuclear threat.
The Whitney Houston hit "I Have Nothing" was inspired by Elvis Presley, who dated the song's lyricist, Linda Thompson.
Doors expert Jim Cherry, author of The Doors Examined, talks about some of their defining songs and exposes some Jim Morrison myths.
He wrote "She Blinded Me With Science" so he could direct a video about a home for deranged scientists.
The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."
With the band in danger of being dropped from their label, Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith co-wrote the song that started their trek from horror show curiosity to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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.
The longtime BS&T frontman tells the "Spinning Wheel" story, including the line he got from Joni Mitchell.