"The Cave" by Mumford & Sons is based on the philosophy of Plato and his work called "Allegory of the Cave."
Otis Day And The Knights, the fictional band created to perform "Shout" in the movie Animal House, became a real band, performing the song at colleges and other venues.
Journey lead singer Steve Perry wrote the rather dramatic "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" with the opening lyrics, "You make me weep, I wanna die," after seeing his girlfriend kissing another man.
The Kate Bush song "Why Should I Love You?" is a collaboration with Prince. He completely re-worked her demo, so Bush spent a lot of time piecing it back together to keep her imprint.
Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl" was written by Oliver Leiber, who despite being the son of Jerry Leiber from Leiber & Stoller, was an unknown songwriter.
References to David Bowie, Tom Waits and Allan Ginsburg are peppered into the Bush song "Everything Zen."
A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.
The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.
Shows like Dawson's Creek, Grey's Anatomy and Buffy the Vampire Slayer changed the way songs were heard on TV, and produced some hits in the process.
Stone Temple Pilots bass player Robert DeLeo names the songs that have most connected with fans and tells the stories behind tracks from their Tiny Music album.
Wilder's hit "Break My Stride" had an unlikely inspiration: a famous record mogul who rejected it.
Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.