The Texas songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker wrote "Mr. Bojangles" after a weekend in jail where a fellow inmate told him his life story.
When the Christian band DC Talk covered Nirvana's "All Apologies" at concerts, they would change the line "Everyone is gay" to "Jesus is the Way."
The R.E.M. song "Don't Go Back To Rockville" is about Mike Mills' girlfriend at the University of Georgia, who had to go back to Rockville, Maryland, for the summer.
The "Doctor of philosophy" in the Indigo Girls' song "Closer To Fine" is based on a teacher Emily Saliers had who had a poster of Rasputin on his door.
Alicia Keys got a huge break when Oprah had her perform her debut single "Fallin'" on her show.
"Dirty Work" is one of the few Steely Dan songs not sung by Donald Fagen. The lead vocal is by David Palmer, who sang on two tracks from their debut album.
Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.
The Doobies guitarist and lead singer, Tom wrote the classics "Listen To The Music," "Long Train Runnin'" and "China Grove."
The "Lowdown" and "Lido Shuffle" singer makes a habit of playing with the best in the business.
Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.
With the rise of Kindie rock, more musicians are embracing their inner child with tunes for tots - here, we look at pop stars who recorded kids' albums.
"How much does it cost? I'll buy it?" Another songwriter told Jonathan to change these lyrics. Good thing he ignored this advice.