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Song Stories

“Back in Black”

AC/DC | 1980

When Bon Scott died on February 19, 1980, some assumed AC/DC were done for. But with new singer Brian Johnson in tow, the hard-rockin' Aussies roared back with the album Back in Black, aong with an anthem of the same name. "I just wrote what came into my head, which at the time seemed like mumbo jumbo," explained Johnson. "'Nine lives. Cats eyes. Abusing every one of them and running wild.' The boys got it, though. They saw Bon's life in that lyric." At last count, the Back in Black full-length is the third-highest-selling album ever, at 49 million copies worldwide -- behind only Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon.

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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