Search results for Inside The Song

Considered songwriting with They Might Be Giants

Grammy-winning They Might Be Giants’ John Flansburgh joined us to talk about songwriting from listening and intuitions. Download the lyrics to Outside Brain to follow along. We tal...

3 Lyrics That Only Make Sense Once You Know the Backstory

Some of the best songs require a little bit of research. Here are some hits that have backstories you might not know about. The post 3 Lyrics That Only Make Sense Once You Know the...

How we wrote Taylor Dayne’s ‘Tell It To My Heart’ by Seth Swirsky

Though eventually a worldwide success, this 80s classic almost ended up in the bin before becoming a defining pop anthem... The post How we wrote Taylor Dayne’s ‘Tell It To My Hear...

How Swing Out Sister Formulated Their “Breakout” in the Nick of Time in 1986

How Taylor Swift Writes a Song, In Her Own Words

The artist shares stories behind some of her biggest hits, her love of a “rant bridge” and how life in the public eye informs the stories she tells in her songs.

Lucinda Williams Explains What It Takes to Write a Great Song

The singer-songwriter talks about being self-taught, and reaching down into the deepest, darkest parts of herself to pull out a song.

The Story Behind Jimmy Harnen and Synch’s Hit 80s Ballad That Found Its Footing Three Years After It Was Released

Synch released "Where Are You Now" in 1986 and watched it quickly fade. Three years later, the song was ready for its closeup. The post

The Cyrkle’s Biggest Hit Received Help From Some Music Heavyweights in 1966

Chris Cornell, Michael Beinhorn, and the Moment Everything Changed

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ShzuRtwSiy8Video can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Chris Cornell Songwriting Troubles That Led To A Classic (https://www.youtube.com/sh...

"Other than a forty-eight-piece string orchestra, everything else was the band or synths." The story of the global hit i...

A decade in the making, the classic ballad featuring Moody Blues singer Justin Hayward was a standout on Jeff Wayne’s epic prog sci-fi album The War Of The Worlds

The Classic Richard Thompson Lyric That Cleverly Worked Its Way Around a Spiritual Leader’s Ultimatum

This 1983 One-Hit Wonder Wasn’t Even Supposed To Be a Song: “We Were Trying To Make Our Friends Laugh”

Thank goodness for lyrical revisions. The post This 1983 One-Hit Wonder Wasn’t Even Supposed To Be a Song: “We Were Trying To Make Our Friends Laugh”

How a Rural ‘Snow White’ Daydream Helped Create One of the Most Iconic Western Songs of All Time

Tex Owens managed to turn his 'Snow White'-esque fantasy into "The Cattle Call", one of the greatest Western tunes of all time. The post How a Rural ‘Snow White’ Daydream Helped C...

How I wrote ‘Hey There Delilah’ by Plain White T’s’ Tom Higgenson

Armed with a name and location, the Illinois band’s lead singer conjured up a song to capture a billion hearts... The post How I wrote ‘Hey There Delilah’ by Plain White T’s’ Tom H...

The Story Behind the 1986 Ballad That Michael Bolton and Journey’s Jonathan Cain Co-Wrote for Kenny Rogers

How We Five Became Folk Rock’s Quintessential One-Hit Wonder in 1965

How We Five Became Folk Rock’s Quintessential One-Hit Wonder in 1965

Blues and Soul Songwriting with Secondhand Dreamcar

Dana and Harry from Secondhand Dreamcar joined us to talk about writing their blues / soul song The Meaning. Download the lyrics to follow along. We talked about: Our songwriting...

The Songwriter Behind This Hall & Oates Hit Thought This Track Would Tank His Career

In 1981, Hall & Oates released "Private Eyes", a massive hit that one of the songwriters thought was the end of his career. The post

This 1964 Folk Standard-Turned-Pop Hit Was Originally an Attempt to Stand Out at Chuck Berry Concerts

They wanted to stand out, and they certainly did. The post This 1964 Folk Standard-Turned-Pop Hit Was...

3 Songs From the 1980s With Vocal Tracks and Lyrics That I Still Don’t Understand to This Day

3 Songs With Backstories That Are Stranger Than the Lyrics Themselves

These three classic songs have pretty strange backstories, even stranger than the lyrics themselves. The post 3 Songs With Backstories That Are Stranger Than the Lyrics Themselves...

The Dan Fogelberg Lyric That Eloquently Breached the Father-Son Divide

The Dan Fogelberg Lyric That Eloquently Breached the Father-Son Divide