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Song Stories

“Personal Jesus”

Depeche Mode | 1989

Depeche Mode's breakthrough single in the U.S. was based on a surprising source: Priscilla Presley's 1985 biography Elvis and Me. “It's about how Elvis was her man and her mentor and how often that happens in love relationships,” Martin Gore, the song's composer, said. “How everybody's heart is like a god in some way, and that's not a very balanced view of someone, is it?” Coincidentally, Elvis' fellow Sun Records artist Johnny Cash recorded a stripped-down version of the song for his Rick Rubin-produced American IV album from 2002.

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“Runaway”
Del Shannon | 1961
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“Layla”
Derek and the Dominos | 1970

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Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

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