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The Dirty Story Behind “Start Me Up” by The Rolling Stones
The attitude of “Start Me Up” jumps out of the groove from the first downstroke of the guitar as Keith Richards defiantly hits his Fender Telecaster. It’s one of those instantly recognizable songs. You...
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The Out-of-This-World Story Behind “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra
“Fly Me to the Moon” was one of the first songs played in outer space. The song traveled a long path before it reached beyond the stratosphere. The definitive version is by Frank Sinatra singing a...
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The Story Behind “Over the Hills and Far Away” by Led Zeppelin and How It Was...
When Keith Relf, Chris Dreja, and Jim McCarty left The Yardbirds in 1968, the band still had some touring commitments to honor in Scandinavia. Guitarist Jimmy Page scrambled to put together a group to...
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The Story Behind “Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club and Why Boy George Had to...
When Virgin Records sent Culture Club’s first single to American record labels, the records were purposely housed in generic white sleeves. A photo of Boy George & Co. didn’t seem to be the way to...
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The Meaning Behind “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues” by Elton John...
“I Guess That’s Why They Called It the Blues” delivered a major critical and commercial hit for Elton John at a time when his career needed it. It came after a stretch when many wondered if John would...
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The Addictive Story Behind “Don’t Blame Me” by Taylor Swift
When Taylor Swift began working on Reputation, she wanted to write with Max Martin and Shellback (Karl Johan Schuster), the Swedish production team that has worked with Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears,...
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The Meaning Behind “Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels)” by Jim Croce and...
Jim Croce left a whole lot of genius behind in his all-too-brief time on this planet. His plainspoken songs dripped with dialogue that felt lived-in and real. But then he’d connect the dots within the...
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The Improbable Path of “Mr. Tambourine Man” by The Byrds and How a Jazz...
The first No. 1 song Bob Dylan ever had was not as a performer but as a writer. Jim Dickson, manager of The Byrds, was given a demo of “Mr. Tambourine Man” and played it for the band. They were not...
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The Meaning Behind “Tougher than the Rest” by Bruce Springsteen and Why It...
As great as it is, “Tougher than the Rest” by Bruce Springsteen brings some contradictions along with it. It’s an unabashed love song within an album full of relationship fractures. And it’s a...
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The Story Behind “Cathy’s Clown” by Reba McEntire and How She Delivered Her...
Only a truly iconic vocalist would dare to try and put a distinctive stamp on a song like “Cathy’s Clown,” since the original was handled so brilliantly by The Everly Brothers. Reba McEntire managed to...
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The Meaning Behind Loretta Lynn’s Self-Affirming Classic “You’re Lookin’ at...
Loretta Lynn said it all in one line: If you’re lookin’ at me, you’re lookin’ at country. “You’re Lookin’ at Country” was an ode to the pastoral imagery she passed on the open road while touring and...
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The Meaning Behind “A-Punk” by Vampire Weekend and Why It Was One of Their...
Ezra Koenig met his future bandmates while studying at Columbia University in New York. After graduation, he taught English, but Vampire Weekend’s record deal ended his time teaching kids about the...
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The Well-Traveled Story Behind “I Fought the Law” by The Bobby Fuller Four
I fought the law, and the law won. There is nothing more final than those eight words. The whole story is right in that line. Every other line in the entire song is secondary to that main theme. He’s...
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The Meaning Behind the Hauntingly Beautiful “Shark Smile” by Big Thief
Brooklyn, New York’s Big Thief released Capacity, their second album, in 2017. The folk-rock quartet followed their fantastic début, Masterpiece, with an album of life’s messy moments. The first album...
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The Meaning Behind “Can’t Even Get the Blues” by Reba McEntire and Why It...
Reba McEntire will once again bring her expertise and experience to her coaching duties on a new season of The Voice, which begins on Monday (February 26). Young singers can certainly appreciate how...
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The Meaning Behind R.E.M.’s “Imitation of Life” and How They Were Inspired by...
When R.E.M. released “Imitation of Life” as the lead single to Reveal in 2001, social media was in its infancy. The popularity of the platforms has made us all too aware of the pull we feel to live a...
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The Meaning Behind “QLONA” by Karol G and Peso Pluma
Latin music’s meteoric rise to chart domination happened with the ascent of streaming. Artists like Bad Bunny and J Balvin are household names, and the sounds of reggaetón now regularly appear on...
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The Story Behind Johnny Cash’s Debut 1955 Singles “Hey Porter” and “Cry! Cry!...
Shortly after enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in 1950, Johnny Cash met his first wife Vivian Liberto during basic training before being stationed in Germany where he bought his first guitar for five...
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The Meaning Behind the Song “Cheer Down” by George Harrison and How It Got...
We don’t know a ton yet about the Sam Mendes film project that’s supposed to deliver four movies, one based on each member of The Beatles, in 2027. For example, who knows how Mendes and company will...
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The Meaning Behind “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” by Caroline Polachek...
Caroline Polachek is many things. She’s studied opera and played in an indie rock band. The classically trained vocalist also manipulates her sound through synthesizers and vocoder-style effects....
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