Fossil collector and amateur palaeontologist Mary Anning (1799-1847) was the real life inspiration for "She Sells Sea Shells."
The song "Grease," sung by Frankie Valli in the 1978 movie, was written by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees.
Feist's "1234" is "about lost love, and the hope to recapture what you once had," but it's best known for the Sesame Street version about counting to four.
Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" was originally called "Brown Skinned Girl," and was about an interracial relationship.
Elvis Costello says "Everyday I Write The Book" is a knockoff of Nick Lowe's "When I Write the Book."
The first Eurodance hit in America was "Pump Up The Jam" by Technotronic in 1989. It led to a wave of Eurodance hits from the likes of Black Box, Snap! and C+C Music Factory in the early '90s.
Johnny Cash's wife, June Carter, wrote "Ring Of Fire" about their relationship.
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.
In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric.
The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.
Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.
"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."
"How much does it cost? I'll buy it?" Another songwriter told Jonathan to change these lyrics. Good thing he ignored this advice.