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Song Stories

“Baby, Baby”

Amy Grant | 1991

Even when she was selling millions of albums in the Christian music genre, Grant had her sights on the mainstream charts. "I realize I'm potentially confronting a whole new audience," she told Rolling Stone. The worldwide success of "Baby, Baby," the first single from her first secular album, proved she could make the transition. Although the song — written about her 2-year-old daughter, Millie — helped Grant make the crossover, she insisted she didn't forget her spiritual side. "It wasn't a case of my falling off the deep end or losing my faith; I just wanted to try new things."

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Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

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