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Song Stories

“Living After Midnight”

Judas Priest | 1980

Many would consider getting awoken in the middle of the night by loud heavy-metal guitar a nuisance. But for Rob Halford, it served as inspiration for Judas Priest's anthem "Living After Midnight," which the band was recording at Ringo Starr's mansion, previously owned by John Lennon. "The house was full of Lennon, as far as the white room he'd made 'Imagine,' Halford told Rolling Stone. "That's the room where Glenn [Tipton] woke me up, because my bedroom was above that room, and Glenn was clanging out the chords to 'Living After Midnight' at 4 o'clock in the morning. He woke me up, I came downstairs, and said, 'Glenn, it seems like you're living after midnight down here.' And he said, 'That's a great title for this song!'"

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

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