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Song Stories

“Lonely Teardrops”

Jackie Wilson | 1958

If Jackie Wilson had known how prophetic the lyrics to "Lonely Teardrops" would be, he may have decided to pass on the song altogether. Co-written by Berry Gordy, who would later start the Motown record label, this song became Wilson's first Number One R&B single. But in an odd twist of fate, Wilson was singing this song at a casino in 1975, and right after he sang the lines "My heart is crying," the singer collapsed on stage from a heart attack and fell into a coma, which persisted until he passed away nine years later.

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Song Stories

“V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.”

Fishbone | 1985

Quite a few musicians have utilized initials for song titles -- Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T.," Abba's "S.O.S.," Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y.," etc. But the more curiously initialed tune has to be "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.," short for "Voyage to the Land of the Freeze-Dried Godzilla Farts." Fishbone's original guitarist, Kendall Jones, explained to Rolling Stone, "When Norwood [Fisher] wrote it, he introduced it to the band saying, 'Man, I've been hearing about all these Nazi right-wing groups on the news saying the Holocaust was staged. So what if America said it never dropped two atom bombs on Japan, that it was actually Godzilla popping a couple off?' Only Norwood would come up with something that out." The same year "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F." was released, the film Godzilla 1985 appeared in North America.

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