Train - Hey, Soul Sister

Guitarist Jimmy Stafford told music writer Annie Reuter the original inspiration for the lyrics: "Pat wrote that with a couple other guys. The story lyrically, I've heard Pat talk about this in interviews. He's always heard of Burning Man. Somewhere in the Californian desert (it's actually in Nevada), they do it every year. It's this whole city in the desert that gets built for a festival that happens every year. They build a huge man out of wood and at the end of the festival they burn it. Pat had never been to Burning Man, but he had an image in his head of what it must be like. All these beautiful women dancing around the fire. That was the imagery he conjured up when he was writing the lyrics to, "Hey, Soul Sister." It's a pretty big deal. Thousands and thousands of people go to it every year. People run around naked and I guess it's a total crazy deal."

Metallica - One

The lyrics are based on the novel Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo, which is about World War I. A specific passage that inspired the song is: "How could a man lose as much of himself as I have and still live? When a man buys a lottery ticket you never expect him to win because it's a million to one shot. But if he does win, you'll believe it because one in a million still leaves one. If I'd read about a guy like me in the paper I wouldn't believe it, cos it's a million to one. But a million to ONE always leaves one. I'd never expect it to happen to me because the odds of it happening are a million to one. But a million to one always leaves one. One."

James Hetfield was introduced to the book by his older half brother, David Hale, who was also in a band. (thanks Vesa - Tampere, Finland and Bertrand - Paris, France)

In 1971, Johnny Got His Gun was made into a movie which was directed by Trumbo. The video for the song uses images and monologues from that movie.

 

 

Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying

This Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman penned song was the longest-running country #1 of 2004 remaining at the summit for seven weeks. It was also named as the #1 country song of 2004 by Billboard.

The song tells the story of a man who gets the news that his father has a life-threatening illness. His dad's message is to live life to the fullest. When the demo was played to McGraw, it struck a chord with him as his own father, former Major League baseball pitcher Tug McGraw, was dying from cancer at the time. 

 

Tim McGraw - Just To See You Smile

This song was released in August 1997 as the third single from the album Everywhere. Having spent 42 weeks on the Billboard chart, "Just to See You Smile" also set what was then a record for being the longest-running single on the Billboard country charts since the inception of Nielsen SoundScan in 1990. This was also the longest chart run for any country single in the 1990s.

The Wallflowers - Sleepwalker

The Wallflowers are a rock band from Los Angeles, California, fronted by Jakob Dylan, the son of Boby Dylan. Formed in 1989 and originally known as The Apples, the ensemble has gone through numerous personnel changes but focuses on Dylan.
Their (Breach) album was released in 2000. The first single from it was "Sleepwalker," the video of which poked fun at Dylan's "rock star" status following the success of Bringing Down the Horse, their previous album.

Metallica - Master Of Puppets

James Hetfield in Thrasher magazine: "'Master of Puppets' deals pretty much with drugs. How things get switched around, instead of you controlling what you're taking and doing it's drugs controlling you. Like, I went to a party here in San Francisco, there were all these freaks shooting up and geezin' and this other girl was real sick."

In an MTV Icon special, James Hetfield said that it wasn't until after this song was written that he realized it related to his alcoholism. 

The Divine Comedy - At The Indie Disco

The Divine Comedy are a chamber pop band from Northern Ireland formed in 1989 and fronted by Neil Hannon. Hannon has been the only constant member of the group, playing, in some instances, all of the non-orchestral instrumentation besides drums. To date, ten studio albums have been released under the Divine Comedy name. The group achieved their greatest commercial success in the years 1996–99, during which they had nine singles that made the UK Top 40, including the top ten hit "National Express". The tenth Divine Comedy album, Bang Goes the Knighthood, was released on 31 May 2010. This is one of the singles from that album.

Metallica - Seek And Destroy

An early Metallica track, this is an angry track where the band gets out some of the aggression that years later would lead them into band therapy, as shown in the documentary Some Kind of Monster. Much of the battlefield imagery in the song related to the Los Angeles music scene, where the band played before moving to San Francisco. The L.A. club crowd didn't seem to get Metallica, and the band didn't understand them either.

James Hetfield based the theme of this song on a Diamond Head song called "Dead reckoning." He explained to Guitar World: "The idea of 'Seek' came from a Diamond Head song called 'Dead Reckoning.' I used to work in a sticker factory in L.A., and I wrote that riff in my truck outside work. This was our first experience in a real studio. I used a white Flying V, which was the only guitar I had back then. I still have the guitar in storage. The song is based around a one-note riff that was up a little higher. Though most of my riffs are in E, that one worked off an A."

Kiscsillag - Örökre

Another Hungarian piece. Kiscsillag is an alternative band formed in 2005, their name means “Little star”. Most of the band members, including the singer, are former members of the most popular Hungarian alternative band Kispál és a Borz. The title of this song means "Forever".

Bloodhound Gang - Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo

The song's title is military alphabet for the word "F--k". "Foxtrot" is military alphabet for "F," "Uniform" for "U," "Charlie" for "C," and "Kilo" for "K." The song is all about euphemisms for sex.

In the video, it is Bam Margera driving the banana-shaped car.

The tunnel you see in the music video is the Ray Hills Tunnel in Pennsylvania. 

 

 

Switchfoot - Dare You To Move

Lead singer Jon Foreman said in an interview: "I love to write songs. I've been at it since I could play the piano. It's one of my favorite ways to pass the time. Music helps me sort out who I am, so my songs usually end up being somewhat autobiographical. I've always felt the deepest connection with honest songs, so I try to write with sincerity."
Foreman went on to say that this song, "is an attempt to honestly face the gap between who I am and who I want to be; between the way the world spins and the way it should be. I've heard that we only use a small part of our brain. Maybe our soul is the same way. And maybe we're half asleep most our lives, simply reacting to the stimulus our brain receives. Action, true action, is rare indeed."

The song was originally called "I Dare You to Move," and was included on Switchfoot's 2000 album Learning to Breathe. It was this version that appeared on the soundtrack to the film A Walk To Remember. The band decided to remix it with heavier electric guitars and stronger vocals for their album The Beautiful Letdown, this time released as "Dare You To Move."

Hinder - All American Nightmare

When bands finish recording albums, they sometimes take a final listen and realize that something is missing. This was definitely the case for Hinder with their All American Nightmare album. This song - which shares the album's title - was the last song the band recorded for the disc, and drummer Cody Hanson says the tune was meant to show a different side of the band - the side that didn't play power ballads like "Lips Of An Angel." In our interview with Hanson, he said, "There was a lot of s--t talked about us in the Rock world. We wanted to come out with something a little more heavy, a little more edgy, a little more tough, so we wrote 'All American Nightmare.' As soon as we came up with the title, that very last line of the first chorus, we knew that that had to be the title of the album, so we went with it. That's probably one of my favorite songs, just because it's so f--kin' mean sounding. I mean, it's cocky, it's got attitude."

Guster - Do You Love Me

Guster is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 1991, the group is known for its live performances and humor. 
Easy Wonderful is their sixth studio album, released on 5 October 2010, on Universal Republic. From 24 August to 18 October 2010, videos for all of the tracks on the album were posted to Vimeo. The first single from the album, "Do You Love Me", was released on iTunes and through the band's website on 3 August 2010.

Suede - Animal Nitrate

This anthem to suburban romance sees vocalist and lyricist Brett Anderson desperate to convince himself that there's an escape from council estate gloom. He recalled to Q magazine April 2011: "I had this schoolboy-ish idea to sneak an overtly sexual song with the framework of pop. I was amazed it got daytime radio play, considering the title is a play on amyl nitrite. To me, it's set in suburbia, in a council estate in Haywards Heath. I was brought up as a white, working-class English boy, and that's what I wrote about. If you're born in a dump you aspire to something better."

Amyl nitrite is employed medically to treat heart diseases such as angina and also to treat cyanide poisoning. It is also used as an inhalant drug that induces a brief euphoric state, and when combined with other intoxicant stimulant drugs such as cocaine or ecstasy, the euphoric state intensifies and is prolonged. However, its use as a recreational drug is risky as once its effects have worn off, a common side effect is a period of depression or anxiety.