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Song Stories

“Red Solo Cup”

Toby Keith | 2011

When Toby Keith first heard this song, conceived two years earlier by songwriter Jim Beavers, he said, "That is the dumbest thing I've heard in my life." A song about plastic cups. Yet, not just any plastic cups, Beavers said — red Solo brand cups. "Everywhere I went, at football games and parties, I saw people using them," he said. "It struck me it could be a song, and I wrote down the title." Keith initially laughed off the novelty song, but the melody stuck in his head. So he decided to record it. The video — with its numerous cameos by showbiz and sports figures — went viral.

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Song Stories

“Youth Knows No Pain”

Lykke Li | 2011

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”

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