MUSIC

5 Hit Songs, Translated

When we start singing along to these foreign language earworms, we're probably not singing what we think we're singing. Here are five hit songs in other languages and what the heck they actually mean once they’re translated.

Creating the Windows 95 Startup Sound

11 Museums Devoted to Musicians

Take a look at 11 of our favorite museums devoted to rock groups, classical composers, and more.

"Say It Ain't So, Joe"

15 Things You Might Not Know About Frank Sinatra

Ol’ Blue Eyes, The Voice, The Chairman of the Board: Whatever you want to call him, today marks the 15th anniversary of his passing. In his honor, here are 15 facts that will help the late crooner seem like a bit less of a stranger in the night.

"The Late Great Johnny Ace"

Pop Song Titles are Losing the Love

Love. It's the drug, and a battlefield, and a many splendored thing. It takes time, it will lead you back, and it don't cost a thing. Is there any topic that has inspired more pop songs than love?

The 10 Most Often Butchered Song Lyrics

Elton loves Tony, Sting broke his nose, and other lies music taught us.

15 of the Most Requested Karaoke Songs

Picking the perfect karaoke song can be a tough choice. The song has to be popular enough so people can sing along with you, but easy enough for a karaoke beginner to master. In honor of National Karaoke Week, which kicks off today, here are 15 of the mos

11 Reasons the BBC Has Banned Hit Songs

Here are a few things that got songs banned from the Beeb.

Happy Birthday, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

11 Awesome Musical Performances from NBC's Late Night with David Letterman

With recent changes announced in the late night talk show landscape we figured this a good time to look back at what was, and forever will be, the greatest late night program of its kind in this or any other world: NBC's Late Night with David Letterman.

A Sea Lion that Dances to the Backstreet Boys

UC Santa Cruz researchers say Ronan is the first mammal to successfully get funky

Fans Pulled Onstage to Rock

"Song of Bernadette"

One of the great overlooked albums of the 1980s, Famous Blue Raincoat by Jennifer Warnes features the singer covering the songs of Leonard Cohen. Warnes even ended up co-writing one of the album's tracks, based on the life of a modern-day Catholic saint.

Incredible Infographics for Beatles Enthusiasts

Fifty years ago today, the Beatles released their first LP, “Please Please Me”—and the rest, as they say, is history. To celebrate this milestone, Pop Chart Lab has created three incredible infographics that break down the instrumentation of the Fab Four’

Farewell, Jason Molina

"Black Friday"

With songs about everything from flashy drug czars to downtrodden jazz musicians, Steely Dan have always cast their lyrical net far from the usual romantic fare of pop music. On one of the standout tracks from their 1975 album Katy Lied, they dug back to

Happy Birthday, Nat "King" Cole!

How Dan Rather and a Homicidal Time Traveler Inspired R.E.M.'s "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"

It makes sense that R.E.M., a band whose lyrics are often cryptic, would find inspiration for a song in the mysterious circumstances surrounding a physical attack on newsman Dan Rather.

11 Musicians Who Had Hits with Two Bands

Swissted: Punk Rock Gig Posters Reinterpreted in Swiss Modernist Style

On the surface, it might not seem like punk rock and Swiss modernism have much in common—but pick up Mike Joyce's book Swissted, out tomorrow, and you'll see that the music and art movements blend beautifully.

"Ruby's Shoes"

When singer-songwriter Lori McKenna’s son was in second grade, he did a book report on Ruby Bridges, the African-American elementary school student who famously crossed the desegregation lines in 1960. To help her son, McKenna came up with a song about Ru

A Song of the South, Born in the North

While “Dixie” (you know, “Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton/Old times there are not forgotten…”) might seem as inseparable from the South as collard greens and barbecue, the song was actually written in New York by an Ohio native.

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