Jack & Diane started off as an interracial couple; Mellencamp took race references out of the song at the request of his record company.
"Take Me Home Country Roads" is set in West Virginia, but John Denver had never been there when he recorded the song. The country roads represent a sense of belonging.
Michael Jackson's "Liberian Girl" opens with the South African female singer Letta Mbulu saying the Swahili phrase "Naku penda piya-naku taka piya-mpenziwe." There was some geographic liberty here, as Swahili is not spoken in the West African nation of Liberia.
The Goo Goo Dolls got the title for their song "Iris" from a country singer named Iris DeMent.
Kid Rock performed his song "Amen" at Barack Obama's inaugural, but claims he didn't vote for him.
"Hunger Strike" by Temple of the Dog features Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder, and was Vedder's first music video.
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.
Many unusual folks appear in Grateful Dead songs. Can you identify them?
Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.
"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."
Since his debut single "I'm On Fire" in 1975, Dwight has been providing Spinal-Tap moments and misadventure.
Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."