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Song Stories

“We Will Rock You”

Queen | 1977

After a frenzied Queen gig on May 29, 1977 at New Bingley Hall in Stafford, England, guitarist Brian May was inspired to pen an anthem about rocking out at a concert. "I think I'd gone to sleep thinking, 'Well, what can an audience do?' They're all crammed in there, they can't do much – but they can stamp their feet, clap their hands, and they can sing. So I woke up with 'We Will Rock You' in my head." Queen would often perform the song twice at concerts – as a sped-up set-opener, and later with the better-known arrangement.

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“Like a Virgin”
Madonna | 1984
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“Everything in Its Right Place”
Radiohead | 2000

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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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