Behind The Song

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Music #65Music History #11

Dig into the lyrics of classic rock songs and the storytellers that created them in "Behind The Song," a podcast of essays by The Drive's Janda Lane. Hear what was happening behind the scenes while some of the most iconic songs in rock history were being written.

Recent Episodes
  • How reflection is Bob Seger’s superpower
    Sep 18, 2024 – 15:30
  • Steve Miller Band, The Joker, and the "pompatous" of love
    Aug 28, 2024 – 14:36
  • The secret sauce in ZZ Top's biggest hit album
    Aug 7, 2024 – 16:50
  • How “Closer To The Heart” by Rush started with a friendship
    Jul 17, 2024 – 12:38
  • Bon Jovi's story that started in "Livin' On A Prayer"
    Jun 26, 2024 – 15:13
  • The emotional ride of The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses”
    Jun 5, 2024 – 13:20
  • Who was Heart's "Magic Man?"
    May 15, 2024 – 11:50
  • The year John Mellencamp took control
    Apr 24, 2024 – 11:38
  • The timeless appeal of Pink Floyd’s “Time”
    Apr 3, 2024 – 15:40
  • The ELO song scientifically proven to make you happy
    Mar 13, 2024 – 16:13
  • The inspiration behind Pete Townshend’s biggest hit
    Feb 21, 2024 – 10:52
  • The midas touch of Pat Benatar and “We Belong”
    Jan 31, 2024 – 11:42
  • The Rolling Stones’ hit song that almost never happened
    Jan 10, 2024 – 11:56
  • John Lennon’s message of peace at Christmas
    Nov 29, 2023 – 12:07
  • The mystery of Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl”
    Nov 1, 2023 – 11:22
  • How “Devil Inside” helped make INXS rock gods
    Oct 11, 2023 – 11:38
  • How Bachman Turner Overdrive’s inside joke became a hit song
    Sep 20, 2023 – 10:38
  • The awesome story of Temple Of The Dog's "Hunger Strike"
    Aug 30, 2023 – 10:12
  • Blondie’s hit song inspired by a stalker
    Aug 9, 2023 – 11:03
  • How Paul McCartney landed the title theme for a James Bond film
    Jul 19, 2023 – 12:52
  • How Eddie Money’s Rock and Roll Dream Came True
    Jun 28, 2023 – 13:54
  • The long strange history of “Casey Jones” by the Grateful Dead
    Jun 7, 2023 – 16:14
  • How Tom Petty punched back at the music biz with “Refugee”
    May 17, 2023 – 14:06
  • How "On The Dark Side" became a surprise hit
    Apr 26, 2023 – 14:36
  • The inspiration behind David Bowie’s “The Jean Genie”
    Apr 5, 2023 – 17:02
  • How “One” unified U2
    Mar 15, 2023 – 17:32
  • The spellbinding story of “Black Magic Woman”
    Feb 22, 2023 – 17:47
  • The love song that started it all for Styx
    Feb 8, 2023 – 14:45
  • How Joe Walsh’s “In The City” went from Warriors to Eagles
    Jan 25, 2023 – 15:32
  • Why Van Halen took their time with “Right Now”
    Jan 11, 2023 – 13:22
  • When Billy Squier Rocked Christmas on MTV
    Dec 14, 2022 – 13:26
  • How Joan Jett embraced her "Bad Reputation"
    Nov 30, 2022 – 16:52
  • Supertramp’s singalong hit about the ideal gift
    Nov 16, 2022 – 11:45
  • The country song that became Def Leppard’s only US #1 hit
    Nov 2, 2022 – 16:29
  • When Sting became the "King Of Pain"
    Oct 12, 2022 – 19:12
  • How Pink Floyd and Bob Ezrin built The Wall
    Sep 28, 2022 – 13:39
  • David Bowie’s mad, marvelous Moonage Daydream
    Sep 14, 2022 – 14:19
  • All Apologies: interpreting Nirvana’s last goodbye
    Aug 31, 2022 – 17:51
  • Who is "Angie" by The Rolling Stones about?
    Aug 17, 2022 – 14:14
  • How “Killer Queen” set the stage for Queen to grab the crown
    Aug 3, 2022 – 16:11
  • Down Under by Men At Work: the song that made vegemite famous
    Jul 20, 2022 – 14:32
  • Bruce Springsteen wrote "Hungry Heart" for who?
    Jul 6, 2022 – 15:08
  • How “Sweet Emotion” helped put Aerosmith on the Mount Rushmore of Rock
    Jun 22, 2022 – 16:43
  • The Bob Dylan song that Jimi Hendrix made his own
    Jun 8, 2022 – 15:56
  • How The Romantics went from Motor City Rockers to MTV darlings
    May 25, 2022 – 10:11
  • Judas Priest's "Living After Midnight:" Metal Gods riding the razor’s edge of British Steel
    May 11, 2022 – 17:01
  • Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”: from punk rocker to pop star
    Apr 27, 2022 – 16:38
  • The Cars’ biggest hit was a pop oddity
    Apr 13, 2022 – 15:54
  • The Thrill Ride of Van Halen's "Panama"
    Mar 30, 2022 – 17:43
  • Investigating Elvis Costello’s “Watching The Detectives”
    Mar 9, 2022 – 14:31
Recent Reviews
  • manayunk wall
    not good
    Far too many commercials to the amount of content. From the few I've heard so far, they just need a couple of more sentences added to each story/review on an episode! The facts are right but lacking a few major details in the ones I heard. They need to push it a bit more to 15-20 minutes and just get it right. This is by no means a History of Rock Music in 500 songs. I prefer that podcast for full accurate information!!
  • Brian Prahl
    Great Podcast!!
    I love the way Janda tells the story behind the classic rock songs!
  • Drea2550
    Could be great get a better host
    Janda’s voice is as fake as her name. This podcast has great potential but I can’t take the voice of the host a minute longer. Good luck I’m gone
  • Rosemary’s Herbs
    Great Podcast
    This podcast gives me a new perspective on familiar songs. The lives of musicians and the business of creating a hit song are both intertwined. Love the stories.
  • @DrivingForEllen
    Cool Stories in Music
    “I just discovered you Janda!” Your analysis of each songs lyrics is “absolutely splendid!” I enjoy the way you go line by line with the truth, or your take on the writers possible explanation. “American Pie” was very enlightening. Thanks.
  • __SWW___
    Meh
    Vapid rehash of gossip from old fan mags.
  • TimReading
    One was not played at Live Aid
    Great podcast, as usual. I really love these. FYI, One was not played at Live Aid. You might be thinking of Bad.
  • B'Town Hoosier
    Awesome
    Thank you Janda. I always look forward to your podcasts.
  • Christine Lecce
    Love it
    Wish they played just a little more of the song each episode. Will subscribe as soon as I figure out how. 🤔
  • Dan S. from Palos Hills
    Great show.
    I love the great stories, overview of the lyrics, and super short format. Perfect length of time to enjoy the show while doing something less enjoyable, like folding laundry.
  • RealTalkRyan
    Okay
    Just a lot of top soil stuff. Not good, not bad. Not surprising from a radio station.
  • Team Ridgeback
    Cool!
    Love It!
  • DM5669
    Know we know
    Great podcast, I will be listening to all episodes.
  • jrjbk
    👍
    Keep these coming! Love the background and details!
  • jd eggsjnf t
    Love the show
    All I can say is do more. Love The background of the songs. A ton of things I never knew. Please keep it up
  • moondoggy02116
    A little diversity would be nice
    Over 100 episodes and the only artist of color in the whole stack is Dobie Gray? That’s kinda sad.
  • musucliver
    Love the trivia
    Stumbled on to this great podcast, full of great trivia. Love the simplicity of it. Love this
  • Joeyo013
    Great show!
    Only one bad thing…. I have been singing the lyrics all wrong😂
  • Foxbody King
    Rock History Lessons
    Love the show. Helps me appreciate the music I have been listening to for years.
  • qb1knob
    Love it!
    Love the songs and the storytelling! Great show.
  • davegrz
    Love the podcast!
    Janda has a real gift for telling a story and her voice is money!!!
  • MichachelGD
    Wanted more
    After hearing the backstory, I would enjoy hearing the song in its entirety without any talking over it.
  • Carolyn Chambers
    Blown away by this Podcast
    I love the deep dives. Highly addictive & I binged right through it!
  • RNpink
    Most annoying voice
    Ugh! Good songs, but that flat nasal staccato delivery make it unlistenable. Just terrible , which is a shame sine the songs are good. And omg when she reads a lyric...misplaced emphasis on words, no musicality at all
  • cølleen
    Love this!
    ❤️each podcast is a gem 👍Then afterwards, When you hear each song again you remember all the new information you learned. The writing is really top notch. I feel like I am increasing my vocabulary as well.
  • joijoi
    Great song selection
    In addition to the great song selection, the content within each podcast is informative and entertaining.
  • KelsBell67
    More women rockers!
    I love your podcasts on digging deeper into the lyrics of classics. Let’s hear about some female singer/song writers too. Heart, Joan Jett, and some many great singers from the 90’s...I am looking forward to it!
  • Baseball1818
    Exquisite
    Janda’s through research coupled with her keen intuition cuts these iconic songs to the bone. You’ll be sure to learn something you didn’t know or had never occurred to you to consider before. And you get to hear it all spoken to you in a voice that’s dark, like tinted glass yet beautiful and rhythmic.
  • Johnius Caesar
    Guessing at the meaning of lyrics?
    Love the concept of the show and getting the scoop of what the song writer really meant when writing the song. Which does periodically happen in this podcast. But when this narrator of this show periodically says things like “hazarding a guess” about what a lyric means, I kind of feel that defeats the purpose of this podcast. I could guess all day what the lyrics mean and really don’t care what other people “guess” it means. Maybe skip those lyrics you don’t know or choose a different song.
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