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The Real Story Behind The Beach Boys’ Make-or-Break Classic “I Get Around”
As the British Invasion commandeered the U.S. charts, only a few acts could fight back. Motown had success with Mary Wells and The Supremes, and the only other American acts to reach No. 1 on the...
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The Acrophobic Meaning Behind “This Mess We’re In” by PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke
PJ Harvey fell in love in New York City, resulting in her fifth album, Stories from The City, Stories from The Sea. She keeps details of her private life away from public eyes while also stressing,...
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The Meaning Behind Zach Bryan’s ‘Boys of Faith’ Collaboration with Noah...
A month after releasing his eponymous fourth album in 2023—which went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Rock, Folk, and Country charts—Zach Bryan shared another batch of songs on Boys of Faith. Featuring...
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Mitski Comes Clean in “Washing Machine Heart”: Here’s What The Song Really Means
Mitski is an editor. Yes, she’s a singer and songwriter, but she understands concision. Her brief songs barely reach three minutes, and the words are terse. Her songs, any one of them, could be used as...
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Why Sheryl Crow Is Sounding The Alarm Bells in Her Song “Evolution”
Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom has thought a lot about the opportunities and existential risks of artificial intelligence. In one doomsday scenario, superintelligence manufactures paper clips to the...
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Why The Controversy Surrounding Their “I Want to Break Free” Video Led Queen...
Queen was the first band to have a video banned by MTV in 1982 when their racy “Body Language” clip featured a little too much flesh and sexual innuendo for the channel’s taste. Ironically, their next...
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The Insurgent Anger Behind “If I Had a Rocket Launcher” by Bruce Cockburn
Even peace-loving types can get fed up. And that is the anger and angst that Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn tapped into for his folk-rock classic “If I Had a Rocket Launcher.” Cockburn,...
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How Paul McCartney’s Girlfriend Inspired Him to Write “And I Love Her” by The...
A Hard Day’s Night began a new era for The Beatles. They were evolving into a whole new band. In the early days, they covered Chuck Berry and Little Richard songs. The gigantic success of “I Want to...
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Why “Master of Puppets” Marked An Important Musical and Lyrical Evolution for...
When Metallica released their third album Master of Puppets in March 1986, they were on the cusp of international stardom. Their first two albums had been groundbreaking releases in the increasingly...
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What Made “Raw Deal” by Judas Priest Singer Rob Halford’s Coming-Out Moment
“The true and free expression I demand is human rights. Right!” So declared singer Rob Halford in “Raw Deal,” a deep cut from Judas Priest’s third album Sin After Sin, which was released in 1977. The...
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Ever Listen to Pantera’s Glam Albums? Despite The Unintentional Humor They...
Before they were the Cowboys from Hell, Pantera were rowdy glam rockers from Arlington, Texas. They released three albums with original vocalist Terry Glaze before bringing in frontman Phil Anselmo on...
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7 Underappreciated Songs to Play Deep from The Outfield
Hailing from the UK, The Outfield were an unusual band that managed to find colossal success with the song “Your Love.” The second single from their debut album Play Deep in 1985, it became a top 10...
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Why John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Small Town” Remains An Iconic Anthem
The 1985 album Scarecrow was a rebirth of sorts for John Cougar Mellencamp. Saddled with a silly stage name, Johnny Cougar was trying to redefine his career almost from the beginning. After a few years...
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Remember When: ‘The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus’ Is Finally Released
The hopes and optimism of rebellious youth were on full display in the swinging London of 1968. The idea of music changing the world seemed not only possible but inevitable. Rock’s royalty gathered for...
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How “Shapes of Things” by The Yardbirds Helped Set a Standard for Other...
Just as Bill Haley and Elvis Presley changed the landscape of popular music a decade earlier, The Yardbirds ushered in the psychedelic age of rock. Feedback had appeared on records, but Jeff Beck was...
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How An Album Inspired by The Loss of a Cherished Girlfriend Launched...
In the first half of the 1980s, British progressive rock band Marillion quickly became a Top 10-selling act in the UK and Germany with their first two albums Script For A Jester’s Tear (1983) and...
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What John Lennon Was Actually Hiding When He Wrote “Do You Want to Know a...
Take a song from a classic Walt Disney movie, mix in a marriage being kept from public knowledge, a posh Liverpool flat, and a doo-wop record, and you get a hit song by Billy J. Kramer & The...
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The Meaning Behind “I’m a Believer,” The Neil Diamond Song that Helped Rocket...
Finding the follow-up to a massive hit has been the hardest thing to do since music has been marketed and sold. “Last Train to Clarksville” had raced up the charts, leading to the success of NBC’s new...
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The Story Behind “Wild Wild Life” by Talking Heads and The Not-Yet-Famous...
Art imitating life imitating art. “Wild Wild Life” was the lead single from True Stories, the soundtrack to David Byrne’s pseudo-documentary about the fictional town of Virgil, Texas. Byrne wrote the...
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The Woman Who Inspired “Show Me the Way” by Peter Frampton and Why He...
How many songs have been written at the dawn of a new relationship when everything is exciting and new? Peter Frampton had just begun seeing a woman. She lived in New York with her husband, an old...
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