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Song Stories

“Dirty Blvd. ”

Lou Reed | 1989

Lou Reed often drew inspiration from the streets of New York, but he seldom depicted the city's poverty as directly as he did on "Dirty Blvd.," representing the Big Apple through the eyes of a down-and-out character named Pedro. When it was issued as a single, the lyrics were toned down a bit, with the words "piss" and "suck" taken out. "I did the blipping," Reed told Rolling Stone. "I didn't want the promo people to feel defeated before they ever went in." Asked if the compromise bothered him, he replied, "It would bother me if the other version didn't exist."

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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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