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Song Stories

“Like a Virgin”

Madonna | 1984

Madonna’s first of many Number One singles epitomized what she stood for back then: being playful, sexy, bold. In 2009, the pop diva told Rolling Stone she found it “ironic and provocative, but also unlike me … I certainly wasn't a virgin, and, by the way, how can you be like a virgin? I liked the play on words." The song's lyrics had a charming birth. Coming off a difficult relationship, songwriter Billy Steinberg met someone else and was “feeling shiny and new,” he said. “I made it through the wilderness, somehow I made it through — I made it through this very difficult time."

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“Alison”
Elvis Costello | 1977
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“We Will Rock You”
Queen | 1977

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Song Stories

“Let My Love Open the Door”

Pete Townshend | 1980

A peppy, hopeful love song, "Let My Love Open the Door" became a U. S. Top Ten hit for Pete Townshend in 1980, anchored by the kind of repeating synthesizer figures that he'd used in some of the Who's recordings in the previous decade. Although Townshend brushed the song off as "just a ditty" in Rolling Stone shortly after its release, in 1996 he revealed it was about love of the holiest sort. "It's supposed to be about the power of God's love," he remarked. "That when you're in difficulty, whether it's major or minor, God's love is always there for you."

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