Song by song explanations? Books, internet, etc.
 

Wondering if anyone knows a good internet site where people explain the meanings of songs or how they came about? I know Allmusic.com does this sometimes and Wikipedia does as well, but is there anything better? How about books that go into song by song detail on certain bands? I realized recently that there are tons of tunes out there where I have no clue what went into their making.

Re: Song by song explanations? Books, internet, etc.
 

There's the 33 1/3 book series. The books are pretty short given their prices, but they're about as detailed as you can reasonably get with 40-60 minutes of music. There are audiobook versions available on Audible.com a bit cheaper than the print editions.

Re: Song by song explanations? Books, internet, etc.
 

http://www.songmeanings.net/

This is a community that talks about and theorizes on what songs mean. Not exactly what you were asking for but sometimes people recount the stories from the artists themselves.

Re: Song by song explanations? Books, internet, etc.
 

My old roommate had a book called "A Hard Day's Write" which gave the story behind each Beatles song. I'd imagine that other classic artists may have something similar.

Re: Song by song explanations? Books, internet, etc.
 

I'll second http://www.songmeanings.net

It's more like a message board (or IMDB) but you can still find some pretty good information if you're willing to sift through a bit of crap.

Re: Song by song explanations? Books, internet, etc.
 

http://www.songfacts.com is another site like that.

Re: Song by song explanations? Books, internet, etc.
 

Thanks guys. All these sites opened up some new ideas. Really like Song Facts.

Re: Song by song explanations? Books, internet, etc.
 

This is an extremely cool book:

http://www.amazon.com/Billboard-Book...pr_product_top

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...SH20_OU01_.jpg

Re: Song by song explanations? Books, internet, etc.
 

http://www.lyricsundercover.com/

This is a podcast that I download through iTunes though you can go through the site directly. About three out of four of them are "premium" podcasts that you have to pay for, but if you go through iTunes you will download just the free ones, and there are probably about 120 of the free ones. The first 86 or so were all free, then it was just every fourth one.

It's done by the same guy who does Coverville, a podcast of covers. www.coverville.com (or through iTunes).

Re: Song by song explanations? Books, internet, etc.
 

Bought this super cheap! Thanks. I'll check out the iTunes rec as well.