THE STORIES BEHIND SONGS

Meet the real people who inspired some of pop music’s biggest hits, from “It Ain’t Me Babe” to “Sweet Caroline.” By Jim Farber

Do you know who Carly Simon was “anticipating”? Who inspired “Dear Prudence”? How about the stories behind such classics as “Rosanna” and “Philadelphia Freedom”? While some stars want their songs to be universally relatable and avoid leaving clues about a song’s origins, others are less subtle. We put on our Sherlock Holmes hats to figure out the people and stories behind some of pop’s biggest hits. Go to Parade.com/songs for 30 more songs.

THE BEATLES “And I Love Her,” “Yesterday” & “I’m Looking Through You”

All three were penned by Paul McCartney for model Jane Asher, whom he dated in the mid-’60s.

“Hey Jude”

Feeling paternal, McCartney wrote this song of comfort for John Lennon’s son Julian, who was then just 5, after his father divorced his mother, Cynthia. The song, released as a “nonalbum single” in 1968, was the first release on the Beatles’ new Apple label.

“Dear Prudence”

The “Dear Prudence, won’t you come out to play/Dear Prudence, greet the brand-new day” of the song is Prudence Farrow (now Bruns), the daughter of film director John Farrow and actress Maureen O’Sullivan and younger sister of actress Mia Farrow. It was at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s retreat in 1968, where Prudence’s fellow students included the Beatles, that her behavior led John Lennon to write the song, which appears on the Beatles’ White Album.

“People over the years would have these reasons why I was ‘Dear Prudence’ that were completely off the wall, like I was a heroin addict or I lost my mind,” Bruns told Parade. “It bothered me. Nobody believed that I didn’t have an affair with John. The song was about how I stayed in my room for five days trying to see where [meditation] would take me.”

Bob Dylan ‘IT AIN’T ME BABE’

Dylan cast his then-girlfriend of the early ’60s,

Suze Rotolo, as his co-star on the cover of his 1963 album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. The two are seen there snuggling on a wintery New York morning. The next year, when things unraveled between them, Dylan penned this classic song about diverging paths for the woman he called, in his memoir, “the most erotic thing I’d ever seen.”

Carly Simon ‘ANTICIPATION’

In the early ’70s, Simon was set to share a bill at Carnegie Hall with Cat Stevens. In order to get to know him better, she invited the fellow hitmaker to her apartment for dinner. He never showed. “I didn’t know back then that he was a flake,” she told an audience years later. In her frustration, Simon picked up a guitar and wrote a song in the style of a Cat Stevens hit, which became her 1972 track “Anticipation,” about someone who was “making me wait.”

Neil Diamond ‘SWEET CAROLINE’

The greatest singalong chorus in the Neil Diamond catalog found inspiration in tragedy. Diamond began writing this piece after seeing a picture of young Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John

F. Kennedy. He completed the song in 1969, six years after the president’s assassination, when Caroline was 11. Later it became an eighth-inning staple at Boston Red Sox games.

Toto ‘ROSANNA’

Keyboardist David Paich wrote the Grammywinning song in 1982, when his bandmate Steve Porcaro was dating actress Rosanna Arquette. The name fit with his melody. Four years later, Peter Gabriel wrote “In Your Eyes” for Arquette, whom he was then dating. She convinced him to let director Cameron Crowe use the song in his movie Say Anything…, in the“boombox” scene with John Cusack that became iconic. Paul Simon ‘50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER’ Following his divorce from his first wife, Peggy Harper, in the mid’70s, Rhymin’ Simon details differrelationship. ent ways to ditch a In 1976, it became Simon’s sole No. 1 solo hit, after years of charttopping success in the duo Simon & Garfunkel.

U2 ‘ANGEL OF HARLEM’

“Lady Day,” aka Billie Holiday ,is the subject of this anthem, with lyrics by lead singer Bono, to the doomed and brilliant vocal legend. It appears on the band’s 1988 album, Rattle and Hum. THE MARVELOUS MS. MITCHELL In a category of her own, Joni Mitchell, now 75, has probably written more songs about famous people—many ex-lovers—than nearly anyone in the last half century of music. Long before Taylor Swift became known for immortalizing her exes in song (“Dear John,” about John Mayer), Mitchell made it a musical motif. Here’s a rundown of some of her starry supporting cast. “Talk to Me” Her snipe at what a stingy conBob versationalist Dylan was, especially when compared to the talkative Mitchell. “Car on a Hill” Like Carly Simon’s “Anticipation,” this song is about being stood up. In this case the alleged culprit is Jackson Browne. “Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire” A harrowing depiction of heroin addiction, thought to be inspired by her ex-lover James Taylor’s abuse of the drug at the time. Parade.com/joni Visit for the stories behind 17 more of her iconic songs.

Fleetwood Mac ‘GO YOUR OWN WAY’

Fleetwood Mac’s biggest album, 1977’s Rumours, was fueled by anger and jealousy. Some of its most potent songs reflected the breakup of singer-songwriters Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. In “Go Your Own Way,” Buckingham lashes out at Nicks, who had dumped him. In the song, he claims that “packing up, shacking up’s all you want to do.” Nicks retaliated with “Silver Springs,” a gorgeous ballad in which she declares, “I know I could have loved you/But you would not let me.” “Springs” was left off the album, which incensed Nicks. Her song did, however, become the B-side of “Go Your Own Way” when it was released as a single, which became a Top 10 hit.

Madonna ‘TRUE BLUE’

A Top 10 smash in 1986, this bubbly dance-pop hit captures the giddy high of Madonna’s marriage at the time to actor Sean Penn .It also served as the title track to her third studio album.

Dolly Parton ‘I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU’

Many assume that one of Dolly Parton’s best-known songs, originally written and recorded in 1973, refers to a romantic goodbye. In fact, it was a professional one. Her farewell was to the country star Porter

Wagoner, who had given Parton her break with a regular gig on his popular TV show. When she left him and his program to fly solo, she offered this expression of loyalty, thanks and regret.

Elton John ‘PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM’

In 1975, Elton John asked his lyricwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, to salute his friend, the tennis superstar Billie Jean King. Together, John and King went on to raise millions for LGBTQ-related causes, though at the time the song was released neither one was publicly out.

Neil Sedaka ‘OH! CAROL’

When he was a rising star of the Brill Building song factory scene in the late ’50s, Neil Sedaka wrote a song about a girl he had dated in high school, one Carol Klein. By then, Carol had changed her name—to Carole King! She had her lyricist writing partner (and husband) Gerry Goffin pen a cheeky answer song, titled “Oh, Neil!” But Sedaka had the last laugh. In 1959, his single became his first Top 10 hit; the Goffin/King song stiffed.