How the Song Came to Be
The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

Dr. Hook ‘Cover of the Rolling Stone’

A band records a song about its burning desire to make it to the cover of the leading music magazine. We’ve got the backstory. Do you know who wrote it?

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

Sonny & Cher’s ‘The Beat Goes On’ (& On & On)…

A breakdown of the way things used to be vs. the inevitable winds of change, it gave them their third major hit. But some things, it seemed, never changed.

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

The Beatles’ Forgotten Top 20 Hit: A ‘Sweet’ Story

A top 20 hit in the U.S., yet it has received virtually no radio airplay in decades and is almost never mentioned in accounts of the band’s early days.

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

A-Ha Reinterprets ‘Take on Me’ With 2 New Versions

A song you’ve heard countless times; its 1985 video has an astonishing number of views on YouTube. A touching acoustic version transforms the song

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

Tom Petty’s ‘American Girl’: A Perfect Rock Song

Though the second single from the Heartbreakers’ 1976 self-titled debut failed to chart on Top 40, its story about the girl alone on the balcony overlooking US Route 441 resonates with his fans

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

Joni Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’: Behind the Song

The composer of one of the greatest countercultural anthems never made it to the festival that served as the song’s subject.

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

Queen’s Homage to Space Exploration: ’39’

The band’s guitarist, Brian May, can do many things well, one of which is to write songs. This one, about time travel, presaged his PhD in astrophysics

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

Harry Chapin’s Inspiration for ‘Taxi’

‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ may have been Harry Chapin’s biggest hit, but ‘Taxi’ resonated with listeners, perhaps due to its real-life connection.

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

Dion’s ‘Abraham, Martin and John’ @ 50

Tension was in the air in 1968 and rock music reflected the turmoil. Then came a voice from the past, gently singing of non-violence and hope.

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

John Fogerty Talks About Writing ‘Proud Mary’

50 years after he began writing one of his most-beloved songs, the musician shared how he first started writing it and how the title came to be

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