You'll Never Guess The Inspiration Behind These Greatest 70's & 80's Tracks



We’ve all wondered about the inspiration behind some of our favorite songs. From long lost loves to meaningful heartbreaks, here’s a look at the behind-the-scenes stories behind your best songs.

Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus by Serge Gainsbourg 1969


The most famous rendition of Moi Non Plus was recorded by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. The track was written for Gainsbourg’s girlfriend, the magnificent classic beauty Bridget Bardot. The track was so overtly sexual that it was subsequently banned in a number of countries. Gainsbourg went on to direct an erotic film inspired by the song released under the same name.



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Higher and Higher by The Moody Blues 1969


The Apollo launch inspired many tracks of the time, one of which being Higher and Higher by The Moody Blues. The song begins with an audio clip of a rocket launching into space. The band was originally supposed to use actual audio of the launch they received from NASA but the sound was of such poor quality they recorded something in studio especially for the track.



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Chelsea Hotel No.2 by Leonard Cohen 1974


Leonard Cohen wrote this heartfelt song after a short-lived yet intense romance with rocker Janis Joplin. The two had shared a passionate fling that was ignited after a weekend at the Chelsea Hotel. Despite brazenly suggesting the song was indeed about Joplin, Cohen said he regretted sharing the fact with the world and would later release a public apology.

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Philadelphia Freedom by Elton John 1975


Elton John, along with the fellow songwriter Bernie Taupin, penned the track as an ode to his long-time friend Billie Jean King. King was the world’s number one female tennis player at the time. The song was titled after her tennis team, the Philadelphia Freedoms. John had been greatly moved and inspired by King’s philanthropic work advocating for the equal rights movement.

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Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple 1972


Surprisingly, this classic song is actually inspired by smoke on the water. But it might not be the smoke you’re thinking of. The band was set to record an album at a casino in Switzerland when the building caught fire. A fan had fired a flare gun during a Frank Zappa concert and the ceiling set alight. After the blaze, a thick layer of smoke descended over Lake Geneva, and so, the track was born.

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Remember by John Lennon 1970


The track was featured on Lennon’s very first solo album entitled John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album featured deeply personal themes that particularly focused on the icon’s childhood issues, his journey using psychotherapy and his relationships. The song was also allegedly inspired by Guy Fawkes’ 1605 plot to blow up the House of Lords using explosives.

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Scarborough Fair by Simon and Garfunkel 1966


This title doesn’t leave too much hidden, the song is inspired by the Yorkshire town of Scarborough. The traditional English ballad was famously popularised by Simon and Garfunkel. It follows the tender tale of two estranged young lovers attempting to complete a list of impossible tasks. Only when the tasks are completed will the lovers reunite.

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50 Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon 1975


Simon wrote the song after a particularly difficult breakup. The song was inspired by the musician’s split from his then-lover Peggy Harper. After the two parted ways, Simon began his relationship with actress Carrie Fisher. Contrary to the song’s title, the tune only lists five ways to leave your spurned lover.

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Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot 1976


Lightfoot wrote the hit song in commemoration of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. The ship was lost at sea in a terrible storm in November of 1975 and tragically went down along with all of its 29 crewmembers. The much-loved song, to date, is Lightfoot’s second most successful single. He is said to consider the track some of his finest work.

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Shine on You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd 1975


“Shine On You Crazy Diamond” was written as a tender tribute to former Pink Floyd band member Syd Barrett. Syd left the group and was later hospitalized due to concerning mental health issues. The nine-part Pink composition was released on the band’s album Wish You Were Here.

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Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones 1971


The song Brown Sugar was written by Mick Jagger, inspired by his secret lover Marsh Hunt. Despite the relationship being kept under wraps, Hunt would go on to mother Jagger’s first child, Karis. The song, with its iconic guitar riffs and danceable melody, was a worldwide hit. Rolling Stone magazine listed the track as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

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Woodstock by Joni Mitchell 1970


Mitchell was supposed to perform at the historical festival of Woodstock in 1969. She ended up canceling the gig due to a scheduling conflict. Despite her absence, Mitchell said she had gained a more profound perspective of the festival from a distance. “The deprivation of not being able to go provided me with an intense angle on Woodstock,” she later explained. She performed the song live just a month after the legendary event.

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Wild World by Cat Stevens 1970


Many fans wrongfully assumed Stevens had written the song about his then-girlfriend Patti D’Arbanville. According to the musician, the song was in fact about himself. “I was trying to relate to my life… I’d done my career before, and I was sort of warning myself to be careful this time around because it was happening. It was not me writing about somebody specific,” Stevens said.

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My Sharona by The Knack 1979


My Sharona is one of the world’s best-known rock tunes. The song was inspired by the real-life love of the band’s lead vocalist Doug Fieger, who fell in love with Alperin when he was 25-years-old. “It was like getting hit in the head with a baseball bat; I fell in love with her instantly,” Fieger said in an interview. Another interesting fact: Fieger said he wrote the iconic song in about fifteen minutes.

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The Devil Went Down To Georgia by the Charlie Daniels Band 1979


In May 1979, the Charlie Daniels Band added a rural twist with the release of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” “The phrase “the devil went down to Georgia” just popped into my head for the opening line. I love the way “Georgia” sounds. It’s so poetic. It wouldn’t be the same if it were “The Devil Went Down to New Hampshire, New York or Tennessee”. The inspiration for my lyric was Stephen Vincent Benét’s 1925 poem, “The Mountain Whippoorwill.” I first read the poem in high school and it stuck with me.”

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Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Diana Ross 1970


When “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” was released by Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye in 1967, the single peaked at No. 19 on Billboard’s pop chart. Then in 1970, after Diana Ross left the Supremes, her version of the song went to No. 1. While it may seem that it was inspired by some memorable mountain, it was actually inspired by a romantic walk through Central Park.
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of Diana Ross Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell 1975


This 1975 hit for Campbell was a song about Broadway stars and musicians. Campbell could relate to the lyric about a country singer who has seen it all. In the ’50s, he spent several years playing honkey tonks in Albuquerque, and after moving to Los Angeles in 1960, he worked as a demo singer, a staff writer and a session musician before hitting it big in the late ’60s after he turned 30.The tune ended up becoming Campbell’s signature song and a centerpiece of his live shows.

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When A Man Loves A Woman by Percy Sledge


This song is a huge part of music history. It’s a legendary love song and will always remain a huge hit. Sledge, who died in 2015 at age 74, said that when he originally sang this, he had in mind Lizz King, his girlfriend of three years who left him for a modeling job in Los Angeles. Said Sledge: “I didn’t have any money to go after her, so there was nothing I could do to try and get her back.”

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Thank God Im A Country Boy by John Denver 1974


John Denver had already earned his country credibility by the time he wrote this killer track. It hit even closer to home as it was influenced by the singer’s beloved Colorado, where he made his home in Aspen. The song originally appeared on Denver’s Back Home Again album, but was overshadowed by the hit “Annie’s Song.”

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Rose Covered Glasses by John Conlee 1978


Rose Colored Glasses was released in April 1978 as the first single and title track from his debut album Rose Colored Glasses. The song peaked at number 5 in the United States. Conlee wrote the song, referencing the expression “rose-colored glasses,” with the male narrator “deluding himself about the woman he loves. It was inspired by his love, the one he says that got away. Yet the song was one of his biggest hits.

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Mr Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan


“‘Mr. Tambourine Man,” I think, was inspired by my guitarist Bruce Langhorne,” Dylan recounted. “Bruce was playing guitar with me on a bunch of the early records. On one session, [producer] Tom Wilson had asked him to play tambourine. And he had this gigantic tambourine. It was like, really big. It was as big as a wagon-wheel. He was playing, and this vision of him playing this tambourine just stuck in my mind. He was one of those characters … he was like that. I don’t know if I’ve ever told him that.”

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You Light Up My Life by Debbie Boon


Boone’s recording of “You Light Up My Life” was a platinum-selling success, and in 1978, she won a Grammy for it.
Even though the song was intended as a love song, Boone interpreted “You Light Up My Life” as an inspirational song about God. She would later go on to write contemporary Christian albums, inspired by this.

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Don’t Stop Believing by Journey 1981


Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” is arguably the best-selling digital track of the entire 20th century. The lead singer and author of the song, Steve Perry, only found out later that there was no such place as South Detroit. In fact, the area south of Detroit is Canada. “I tried north Detroit, I tried east and west and it didn’t sing, but south Detroit sounded so beautiful. I loved the way it sounded, only to find out later it’s actually Canada,” Steve later said.

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99 Luftballons by Nena 1985


The hit song 99 Luftballons by the German artist Nena has an extremely profound meaning. The song is an anti-war protest song and is based on what could happen if balloons floated over the Berlin Wall into the Soviet sector.The lyrics talk about one side deciding to simply shoot the balloons down and the second side taking that as an act of aggression. An all-out 99 year war breaks out and destroys everything, all over innocent balloons.

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True Blue by Madonna 1986


Madonna is undoubtedly the Queen of Pop and takes the crown as the best-selling female recording artist of all time. She wrote the song “True Blue” for her first husband of the time, Sean Penn. Madonna described Penn as the “coolest guy in the universe” in the notes of the album.Madonna says that the song, as well as the album, is about true love. Rolling Stone magazine praised the album, stating that it was written straight from the heart.

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Black Friday Steely Dan 1988


Steely Dan’s song “Black Friday” was not about the Thanksgiving holiday. In fact, it’s actually about a famous investment ploy. A group of wealthy investors got together to corner the market on gold. They drove up the prices by buying as much gold as possible. The ploy, which happened in 1869, failed. The government realized what the investors were attempting to do and released $4 million worth of gold. The release drove the price of gold down to the floor and bankrupted the investors.

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China by Joan Baez 1989


Joan Baez’ song entitled “China” is about the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. According to the singer, she wrote the song to “condemn the Chinese government for its violent and bloody crackdown on thousands of student protesters who called for the establishment of democratic republicanism.” Baez, throughout the years, has been very vocal on her beliefs for freedom and human rights.

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Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses 1987


It may surprise you to learn that “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” one of the world’s greatest songs of all time, actually started as a joke. The band’s drummer and guitarist were merely warming up for a jam session and began playing a circus melody. Axl Rose, the band’s lead singer, like the sound so much that he decided to turn it into a full song with chords and lyrics. Slash confessed the song makes him sick and that he hates what it stands for. Millions of fans worldwide would disagree with that!

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Oh Sherrie by Steve Perry 1984


Oh Sherrie” was Steve Perry’s biggest hit during his solo career after leaving the rock band Journey. The song, was written about his relationship with his then-girlfriend Sherrie Swafford. She was even in the room when he started writing the song. Their relationship, sadly, didn’t last long. But they will forever have the hit song to remember their time together. The 1984 hit single peaked at number one on the US Billboard Top Tracks chart and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

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Lola by The Kinks 1970


Lola was inspired by a real-life experienced by the band’s manager. During a night of drinking and dancing, he began conversing with what appeared to be a woman but, in fact, was a transvestite. The song clearly references the case of mistaken identity with the lyric “she walked like a woman but talked like a man.”

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American Pie by John McLean 1971


There are few people who have not heard American Pie by John McLean. The lyric “the Day the Music Died” references the tragic ‘ day that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson died in a plane crash. The song has been widely praised as an iconic musical critique of the downfall of American society.

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The Ballad of John and Yoko by The Beatles 1988


John Lennon wrote the song “The Ballad of John and Yoko” while the couple were honeymooning. The song,  is about their marriage. They did it in secret in Gibraltar, then went on a public honeymoon in Amsterdam where they posed for their iconic “bed-in” photograph in protest of war. The song was condemned by the Spanish government due to the controversy surrounding the status of Gibraltar. Lennon stated that the verses reflected how he personally felt persecuted and that he was “walking a tightrope” due to lawsuits against him. Many stations banned the song.

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Layla by Derek and the Dominos 1970


Eric Clapton wrote this track during his time with the band Derek and the Dominos. The song revolved around a story of unrequited love. Supposedly, Clapton penned the tune with Pattie Boyd as his muse. Clapton had first fallen for Boyd while she was married to George Harrison of the Beatles. After their marriage ended, Boyd and Clapton were married. The song is often referred to as one the greatest rock songs of all time.

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Uptown Girl by Billy Joel 1983


The hit song “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel was originally titled “Uptown Girls.”  Joel explained that the song was inspired by his life.  The song was originally written about his then-girlfriend, famous supermodel Elle Macpherson. When they broke up he started dating his future wife Christie Brinkley. So, the song is about both women. The hit song peaked at number three on the music chart Billboard Hot 100.

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I Shot the Sheriff by Bob Marley 1975


Bob Marley’s iconic tune was a worldwide hit, becoming an anthem that rebelled against contemporary social issues of injustice and corruption. The ‘sheriff’ in question was a metaphor for the evil of capitalism. But there was supposedly a more personal meaning behind the song. The track was also inspired by a dispute between Marley and his girlfriend Esther Anderson over the use of birth control, which Marley was against. This is especially evident in the lyric: “Every time I plant a seed/He said kill it before it grow.”

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You’re so Vain by Carly Simon 1972


There is no woman who has not belted us this classic song after a particularly crushing heartbreak. Despite the speculation about who the track was written about, Simon only confirmed the subject of her inspiration decades after the song’s release. Her muse was none other than the actor and notorious ladies’ man Warren Beatty. There might be no better revenge than writing a worldwide hit after a man has scorned you!

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Enola Gay by OMD 1980


Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) released their single “Enola Gay” in 1980, the band’s only single on the album Organisation. The Enola Gay was the name of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima at the end of World War II. The plane was named after the pilot’s mother. The group were fascinated by WWII airplanes, and the song even references 8:15, the exact time the bomb exploded causing clocks to freeze due to the electromagnetic pulse.

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I Always Love You by Dolly Parton 1973


Contrary to popular belief, Dolly’s song I Will Always Love You is not about a romantic relationship. It’s about the deterioration of the relationship with her longtime mentor, duet partner and producer, Porter Wagoner. The two talented stars had a successful run topping the music charts and producing some beautiful and memorable tunes. When Parton decided to pursue a solo career, she took to her music to bid Wagoner farewell.