Some were released decades after they were first written
A song's meaning can be very ambiguous at times and can be interpreted in many different ways. Often it’s impossible to know what the writer was originally inspired by. It’s even more difficult to imagine how some of the most iconic songs came to be written. This gallery tells the heartbreaking, beautiful, and bizarre stories behind some of the world's most iconic songs. Click through to find out the real stories behind the music.
In 2006, Kelly Clarkson's career was reaching new heights. Her second album 'Breakaway' had dropped to critical acclaim and earned her two Grammys, one of which was for her song 'Since U Been Gone.' Widely considered to be one of the defining pop songs of the 2000s, Clarkson still sings it while touring to the delight of millions of adoring fans. However, a revelation from the memoir of record producer Clive Davis claimed that he had to force Clarkson to record the song. Clarkson appeared on 'Watch What Happens Live' on June 28 and explained the backstory to Andy Cohen.
“I was lied to, and they told me there are these producers who want to work with you and there’s this song. It had dummy lyrics. They didn’t have lyrics in. They said they wanted me to work with it. I was told to write to the song," she explained to Cohen. Clarkson was flown to Sweden to meet two of the biggest producers in the industry: Max Martin and Dr. Luke. “I get there and these two people were not told I was writing to it and already had it written. I looked like a fool. The label had told me something completely different. That’s a red flag. Why lie to me like that? I don’t like the lying. That's why I have a bad vibe with that song. It’s interesting facts that people like to leave out.”
Clarkson clarified that she still loves performing the song, but only because she's "such a great compartmentalizer and can put that aside and sing the hell out of it on tour.
Inspiration hit guitarist Keith Richards in the middle of the night when he woke with the idea for the Rolling Stones' '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.' He dragged himself from his bed and recorded a short demo of the guitar riff.
Chris Martin recalls writing Coldplay’s smash hit and breakthrough single ‘Yellow’ between vocal takes while recording a different song. Martin left the vocal booth and played the song for the band, who all shrugged dismissively and returned to watching soccer.
Paul McCartney wrote ‘Hey Jude’ as a message to Julian Lennon when his parents John Lennon and Cynthia Lennon were divorcing.
Throughout her career, Adele has delivered heartbreaking, powerful songs that would give anyone goosebumps. One of her most famous ballads is 'Hello,' a tragic love song in keeping with her usual style. While her songs are deeply emotional, Adele is one of the more private celebrities when it comes to talking about her personal life and relationships. However, she broke her silence in an intimate interview with Oprah Winfrey and spoke about the circumstances under which she wrote the song. "The song, to me, was the beginning of me trying to find myself. And I hadn't figured out yet what it was that I had to do for that," she said. "When I wrote it, it was a real ode to like, little me, older me, all of these things. It's just a song about, like, I'm still here."
When Kurt Cobain played the riff for ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ to the band, they didn’t like it. But Cobain was adamant about its potential and forced the band to practice it for hours until they felt inspired.
While guitarist Jeff Beck (left) and Stevie Wonder (right) were hanging out at a studio, Beck playfully got behind the drums and started playing. It was enough to get Stevie Wonder’s creative juices flowing and he instantly improvised ‘Superstition’ to the beat.
Lady Gaga wrote the song to relieve herself of the emotional weight that she was carrying due to hiding her bisexuality from her boyfriend.
Joni Mitchell feels that she was only able to write the song ‘Woodstock’ and understand the significance of the Woodstock festival of 1969 because she never actually went to the event.
Elton John took it as a challenge when Bernie Taupin, his long-time songwriting partner, told him that he couldn’t write a song about tennis and responded by writing 'Philadelphia Freedom.' The song is an ode to his close friend Billie Jean King, who was the best female tennis player in the world at the time and part of the Philadelphia Freedoms professional tennis team.
‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ by the Guns N’ Roses started as a joke. Axl Rose wrote lyrics and worked out a structure to make it a song. Slash has gone on record saying that he hates the song and what it stands for.
‘We Will Rock You’ was written very consciously by the band in response to their audience becoming so big that they had the potential to drown the music out. They wrote it to get the audience to sing along.
At a Chinese restaurant, Paul Simon saw a dish called "Mother and Child Reunion" on the menu. He was humored to discover that it was a dark reference to a chicken-and-egg dish and named a song after it.
When Ray Charles ran out of songs to play at a concert, he turned to his band and asked them to follow his lead. Charles improvised ‘What’d I Say’ on the spot.
The John Lennon song 'Remember,' released in 1970, was heavily influenced by his primal therapy sessions with psychotherapist Dr. Arthur Janov (photographed).
‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ was written by Pink Floyd about Syd Barrett, a former member of the band who struggled severely with his mental health.
Paul McCartney woke up one morning in his youth and wrote a song about scrambled eggs, which had lyrics that sang, “Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs.” The lyrics were changed, and the song became the Beatles’ ‘Yesterday.’
Elvis Presley’s hit song ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ was inspired by a story he read in a newspaper.
‘Sweet Caroline’ by Neil Diamond was inspired by Caroline Kennedy (pictured), the late US President John F. Kennedy’s daughter. Diamond was inspired by the innocence and purity of a photo of the child riding a horse.
The success of ‘White Room’ by Cream shocked Pete Brown because he wrote lyrics for it merely describing an apartment that he was living in.
‘Smoke on the Water’ by Deep Purple came to be after a Roman candle was fired into the ceiling at one of their concerts in Geneva, burning the building down. The title was thought of while the band watched Lake Geneva engulfed in flames from their hotel following the accident.
Polio-stricken Doc Pomus scribbled down the lyrics for ‘Save the Last Dance for Me’ at his wedding while watching men line up to dance with his new wife.
When Pete Townshend was writing the Who’s song ‘Tommy,’ he played it for music critic Nick Cohen who told him that the character in the song, Tommy, was dull. In response, Townshend made the character a pinball champion.
Michael Jackson came up with ‘Billie Jean’ while driving his car. Jackson joked that the song was so good that it was the reason that his car’s engine caught fire.
While in New York, Mark Knopfler took a trip to an appliance store where he witnessed an employee watching MTV and commenting harshly. Knopfler noted what the employee was saying, which inspired ‘Money for Nothing.'
Michael Stipe from REM wrote the song after hearing the story of newsman Dan Rather being attacked and repeatedly asked “what’s the frequency, Kenneth?”
A story in the news about a man shooting at his girlfriend’s car inspired Bonnie Raitt’s 1991 hit song ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me.’ When he was asked what he learned by the judge in court, he replied that “you can’t make a woman love you if she doesn’t.”
Inspiration struck Harry Nilsson to write ‘One’ after hearing a user busy signal that resembled the word “one” being repeated when trying to make a phone call. He began singing along to it. The user busy signal became the intro to the song.
Kevin Parker of Tame Impala came up with ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’ while watering the grass at his rented home in Perth, Australia to avoid further conflict with his landlord, and immediately ran inside to record it.
Sources: (Official Charts)(Scribol)
See also: Star singers who hate their own songs
The stories behind some of the world's most iconic songs
Inspiration can come from anywhere
MUSIC Tunes
A song's meaning can be very ambiguous at times and can be interpreted in many different ways. Often it’s impossible to know what the writer was originally inspired by. It’s even more difficult to imagine how some of the most iconic songs came to be written. This gallery tells the heartbreaking, beautiful, and bizarre stories behind some of the world's most iconic songs. Click through to find out the real stories behind the music.