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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Desmond Dekker’s ‘Israelites’—Admit It, You Don’t Know the Lyrics
Even as it found its way to the top 10 in the U.S. and several other countries, many listeners had no idea what this proto-reggae song was about.
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The Beatles’ ‘I Saw Her Standing There’: Way Beyond Compare
The song is an endless (and endlessly relatable) story, but also a finite one in that it takes place in less than three minutes
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‘Yellow Submarine’ Before It Was ‘Yellow Submarine’— A Naked Submersible, Sung By John Lennon
Most fans had no idea that these early compositional demos of the song existed. Now that we do, we can never think of it the same way again.
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Al Kooper on Recording “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” With the Stones
“Mick wore a gorilla coat and Keith a hat with a long feather. Everyone sat around and they passed out acoustic guitars.”–Kooper
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Pete Townshend’s ‘Teenage Wasteland’
For years, he worked on an ambitious project called Lifehouse. It was intended to be another rock opera and a logical follow-up to Tommy. This song evolved into “Baba O’Riley”
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The Rolling Stones’ ‘Out of Time’: The Backstory
It started out as a throwaway track stuck on a contractual-obligation album, became a hit cover for someone else, and now the Stones are playing it live.
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‘Wichita Lineman’ Book: Exclusive Excerpt
The Jimmy Webb favorite, as sung by Glen Campbell, is the subject of a new book by author Dylan Jones, who has written books on David Bowie and Jim Morrison
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