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The Story Behind “Only the Lonely,” the Hit Roy Orbison Originally Offered to...
By the late 1950s, Roy Orbison was living in a small apartment in Nashville with his wife and baby, and he often used his car as a refuge to write songs. In 1958, Orbison’s friend rockabilly singer and...
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The Meaning Behind “Jamaica Say You Will” by Jackson Browne and How It...
Jackson Browne made his name at the very beginning of his recording career with sensitive love songs that dug just a little deeper than your average pop music fare. “Jamaica Say You Will” set the tone...
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The Meaning Behind “You Can’t Hurry Love” by The Supremes and How It Started...
In an era where girl groups flexed their musical muscles on the pop charts with regularity, none could quite keep up with The Supremes. Their list of smash hits runs long, with “You Can’t Hurry Love”...
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The Meaning and Story Behind “Look Away” by Chicago and the Future Hall of...
Some songs are likely bigger hits than you remember. You might recall “Look Away” by Chicago as a somewhat ubiquitous power ballad from the late ’80s. But did you know that it was the top Billboard hit...
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Behind the Meaning of Kelly Clarkson’s “Whole Lotta Woman”
When you’re in the public eye, you are often subjected to commentary about your physical appearance–particularly if you’re a woman. For some, that can be a soul-crushing experience. For others, it’s a...
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The Story Behind the Debut Hit Deep Purple Considered “Too Disco” Before...
In 1967, country soul singer Billy Joe Royal, known for his 1965 hit “Down in the Boondocks,” released “Hush.” Written by Joe South, who was behind the Grammy-winning “Games People Play,” “Rose...
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The Meaning Behind “Golden Years” by David Bowie and the Rise of The Thin...
Run for the shadows in these golden years, David Bowie sings on his 1975 Top 10 single “Golden Years.” Bowie was dealing with some serious shadows of his own in his personal life at the time, but that...
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The Meaning Behind “All Out of Love” by Air Supply and How Clive Davis Came...
Air Supply steadily succeeded with a stream of soft rock hits that played off their strengths: Graham Russell’s songwriting and Russell Hitchcock’s vocals. They dented the charts with regularity, and...
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Why R.E.M. Avoided Performing 1991 Hit “Shiny Happy People” Live and Wanted...
“I don’t hate it, but I don’t want to sing it,” said Michael Stipe of R.E.M.‘ 1991 hit “Shiny Happy People.” Released on the band’s seventh album Out of Time, “Shiny Happy People” became an instant hit...
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Behind the Meaning of Taylor Swift’s Plea to a Higher Power, “The Prophecy”
Among the stunning songwriting bouts on Taylor Swift‘s The Tortured Poets Department is “The Prophecy.” This introspective ballad sees Swift submit a plea to a higher power in the hopes that her lot in...
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How Bob Dylan Confronted Mortality on “Not Dark Yet”
In 1997, before Bob Dylan released Time Out of Mind, he thought he was going to die. A life-threatening heart infection put him in the hospital, and when he recovered, he said, “I really thought I’d be...
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Tommy Lee on Mötley Crüe’s New Single “Dogs of War” and How He’s Still Trying...
When asked what he’s focusing on today, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee says more than anything else, he’s just trying to be better. For the notorious music icon who seems to have lived as many lives as...
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Behind the Meaning of the Eagles’“Already Gone”
“Already Gone” is one of the Eagles‘ most sun-soaked songs. Despite being about heartbreak, it’s hard to resist the urge to drive with the windows down and the radio up when this one comes on. This...
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The Meaning Behind Nazareth’s “Hair of the Dog” That Never Involved a...
Red-hot mama, velvet charmer / Time’s come to pay your dues. In Nazareth’s 1975 hit “Hair of the Dog,” Dan McCafferty wasn’t singing about a morning-after drink to help cure a hangover. The phrase...
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The Misunderstood Meaning Behind “Suicide Solution” by Ozzy Osbourne
With its ominous title, Ozzy Osbourne’s “Suicide Solution” was destined to cause controversy. The brooding song emerged on his debut album Blizzard of Ozz, which came out in the UK in September 1980...
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What If the Theme to “The Breakfast Club” Had Been Done by Billy Idol?
“Don’t You (Forget About Me)” is one of the most indelible rock anthems of the 1980s. The song was so effective it was used in the opening and closing credits to the 1985 John Hughes film The Breakfast...
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The Song The Cure’s Robert Smith and Boris Williams Created in Two Days for...
In Book Two: Fear of James O’Barr’s 1993 graphic novel The Crow, the lyrics to The Cure‘s Pornography track “The Hanging Garden” are printed adjacent to an illustration of his protagonist Eric Draven,...
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The Conflicting Stories Behind the Origin of “Surfer Girl” by The Beach Boys
Brian Wilson has been interviewed countless times and asked the same questions over and over. Through the years, it is interesting to compare his answers to see where the lines have blurred. The fact...
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The Meaning Behind “Computer Age” by Neil Young and Why It’s a Metaphor for...
Neil Young released an electronic album one year after New Order’s debut Movement. But Movement still sounds like Joy Division, the post-punk band whose ashes New Order rose from following Ian Curtis’s...
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The Many Lives of the Well-Traveled “The Tide Is High” by Blondie
From the beaches of Kingston, Jamaica, to the East Village of New York City, to the green parks of Gothenburg, Sweden, to the port city of Liverpool, England. A song can have multiple lives and travel...
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