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Song Stories

“Devil Inside”

INXS | 1988

With his alluring vocals, Michael Hutchence sang about a certain horned imp but he wasn't trying to proselytize. "It's incredible how people are raised about and become pious individuals and everybody looks up to them and they have complete faith," he told Rolling Stone. "It's wonderful to have faith, but I don't think the pope is any better than anyone else." Hutchence didn't think Jimmy Swaggart was any better either as he dedicated 'Devil' to the infamous sinner. "By addressing the devil – and I don't believe in the devil, it's a metaphor – and not trying to achieve the angel, we're a lot better off."

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Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

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