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Song Stories

“Fallin'”

Alicia Keys | 2001

This gospel-tinged piano ballad was Keys' debut single from her debut album, Songs In A Minor. She was just 20."I wanted to write a song for someone who was 10 or 12 years old--like a young Michael Jackson," Keys said. "[The song] is about the ins and outs of a relationship. Sometimes, you’re completely head-over-heels in love with someone, and sometimes you can’t stand that person. You fall in and out…" She performed "Fallin'" on the Oprah show before the album was even released: it hit Number One, and Keys hasn’t let the spotlight since.

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“School's Out”
Alice Cooper | 1972
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“Dougou Badia”
Amadou and Mariam | 2011

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Song Stories

“The Pretender”

Foo Fighters | 2007

This song wasn't part of the planned track listing for 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and was put together in a day. "It happened after we recorded a lot of stuff," said Dave Grohl. Yet it ended up as the album opener and the lead single. Grohl called it "a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it." The singer hinted at the lyrics' political overtones: "Everyone's been f---ed over before and I think a lot of people feel f---ed over right now and they're not getting what they were promised."

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