Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl" is about Christie Brinkley, who he married, but it started as a song about Elle McPherson, who he also went out with.
The '40s hit "Rum and Coca-Cola" is really about American soldiers soliciting prostitutes in Trinidad.
The chorus in "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire is "Bada-Ya, dancing in September." Maurice White left it "Bada-Ya" instead of a real word because he never let a lyric get in the way of a groove.
Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are" was originally written with Cee-Lo Green in mind, but the Gnarls Barkley singer didn't feel it was right for him.
The Texas songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker wrote "Mr. Bojangles" after a weekend in jail where a fellow inmate told him his life story.
Irving Berlin said "God Bless America" was "not a patriotic song, but rather an expression of gratitude."
Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.
The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.
After studying in Paris with a famous composition teacher, Charles became the most successful writer of TV theme songs.
Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.
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.
The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.