Metallica's "Fade To Black" was spurred by their gear being stolen:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fade_to_Black_(song)

Not really a random story, but still interesting. There's a quiz at the end of Dodo/Lurker by Genesis. What's the answer?

Clothes of brass and hair of brown
Seldom needs to breathe
Don't need no wings to fly
Ohh a heart of stone
And a fear of fire and water
Who am I?

I'm guessing it's a submarine.

Closing Time by SemiSonic is about childbirth, not trying to hook up before they start flipping the lights on and off at the bar.

agchino said:

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I'm guessing it's a submarine.

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Genesis fan or just a really lucky guess?

steve poltz writing jewel's 'you were meant for me' after a federale ride along drug bust in old mexico

shaynew1 said:

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steve poltz writing jewel's 'you were meant for me' after a federale ride along drug bust in old mexico

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The Gin Blossoms Allison Road was inspired by an exit sign off I-10 between Junction and Sonora.

Ol Jock 99 said:

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The Way by Fastball is about an elderly couple who disappeared; they were from my hometown of Salado.



Wiki Article

Longer article

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I've got lots of relatives in Salado and spent a lot of time on the creek growing up. They all knew the Howards.

Amazing that was once basically not much more than Robertson's, Stagecoach Inn and a DQ has turned into a tourist destination.

Kris Kristofferson on writing "Me and Bobby McGee". A truly great song.
A random secretary's name + a Fellini film

deadhead aggie said:

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agchino said:

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I'm guessing it's a submarine.

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Genesis fan or just a really lucky guess?

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I'd never heard of that song before now, just went off the clues.

fortunate son by CCR was inspired by David Eisenhower:

""Fortunate Son" wasn't really inspired by any one event. Julie Nixon was dating David Eisenhower. You'd hear about the son of this senator or that congressman who was given a deferment from the military or a choice position in the military. They seemed privileged and whether they liked it or not, these people were symbolic in the sense that they weren't being touched by what their parents were doing. They weren't being affected like the rest of us"

I believe that is the same David which "Camp David" is named after.

rynning said:

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I always thought it interesting that Farrah Fawcett inspired the song "Midnight Train to Georgia" in the early 70's before she rose to fame, though she said "Midnight Plane to Houston."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Train_to_Georgia

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I mean...you MF'ers could at least star the post that contributed this first. Damn.

Radiohead's Creep - Jonny Greenwood was trying to ruin the song with the iconic 3 dead notes played before the chorus.

Hey Man, Nice Shot by Filter is about a politician named Bud Dwyer blowing his brains out on live TV. Don't google that if you're sqeamish.

"Sundown" by Gordon Lightfoot is about his real life girlfriend's issues with drugs and infidelity. A few years later she was who injected John Belushi with the fatal shot of heroin.

AgNav93 said:

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Hey Man, Nice Shot by Filter is about a politician named Bud Dwyer blowing his brains out on live TV. Don't google that if you're sqeamish.

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I had seen the video before and was kind of disappointed when I found out that's what the song was about. Bit of a different spin.

Heart shaped box

"Used to Love Her" was written about a dog.

The guitar rhythm in "Jive Talkin'" by the Bee Gees was modeled on the sound their car made while driving across a bridge on the way to the studio in Miami.

Both the "where do we go now" in GNR's "Sweet Child of Mine" and the "bah de ah" in Earth Wind and Fire's September were filler lines that never got replaced. In fact, Maurice White liked it so much he refused to change it.

BTW, if you haven't read Marc Myer's Anatomy of a Song or heard him on SiriusXM's Feedback on the Volume channel, you need to check it out. Some fascinating stuff.

He writes a column for the WSJ, too.

Listen what inspired Peart to write the lyrics to Sprit of Radio.

Listen through the 17:40 to the 19:00 minute mark, unless you want to know how Alex really plays the song.

Under Pressure by Bowie and Queen



The two sides had been trying to collaborate for days to get the music down for the lyrics. They could not agree on which direction they wanted to go in, tensions were apparently very high, and both decided to leave the studio and take a break for a couple of days to regroup their own thoughts. Both told the others they would bring fresh new ideas to the new session.

When they showed up to regroup and go over the very first tune they had each independently come up with, it was EXACTLY the same. They had both come up with with the same beat and music to the lyrics and they knew instantly it was going to be magic. They recorded it that day, and the rest as they say his history.


(From the Mercury Bio on A&E)