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iviimii The storiefiEHlNDhe songs BY MACON MOREHOUSE THEY ARE SOME of the most intriguing “mystery” songs of our times: A young man who has no money but lots of love prepares to become a dad for the first time. A fan of a rapper turns into a stalker. A horse breaks out of its stall, a girl chases it, and both are lost forever. Each song’s “mystery” is locked in lyrics that remain ambiguous, leaving listeners with the clear question: Is this based on reality? USA WEEKEND Magazine tracked down the an swers. Here are the real stories behind five classic “mystery” songs: Danny’s Song by Kenny Loggins (i 972) The mystery: About to become a father, the narrator is blissful but poor. Was the impending child real? And what happened to him? The real Story: Loggins wrote Danny's Song about his older brother, Danny, who had fallen in love. “He was hav ing a baby, and he wrote me a letter about it,” says Loggins, who’s latest a ' DUm ' s About Now. “It was Ktghf probably the happiest time ln A lot of the lines in taken Colin, is now grown, lives in New E ng land and has a CD coming out this fall. Danny, who went on to become a successful record com pany exec, is retired now. Stan by Eminem (2000) The mystery: A crazed fan “stalks” the singer with increasingly angry letters, then dies in a car crash. Was Stan real? Or is he a composite of many Eminem fans? The real story: Eminem has said that Stan is fictional, but the song is inspired by real fans who have rattled him with their devotion. “People try 12 USA WEEKEND • Sept. 14-16,2007 Me and Bobby McGee by Kris Kristofferson (1970) Thß mystery: Is Bobby a woman, a man or a guitar? The real story: Sine , the song cre ated a stir in the early 19705, Bobby has been rumored to be a woman (she was, in Kristofferson’s version), a man (yep, in Jams Joplin’s version) and, according to some speculation, a guitar. Definitely not that last one, co-writer Fred Foster says. The real Bobby McGee was Barbara McKee, Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks (1974) The mystery: Jacks sings about his pending death. Did he die in real life? had gotten bad news. “He was get- f ting bad headaches, and he said that 1 he had leukemia,” Jacks says. “He died four months later.” ing to kiss my hand, dudes crying,” he once explained to a reporter. The song, says Rolling Stone contributing editor ' Christian Hoard, turned Eminem into a major artist “It is the ultimate exam- 1 pie of a song you can’t not pay attention to,” Hoard says. “It shows that Eminem really understands his fan base: angsty disaffected teenagers like Stan but who aren’t that messed up.” The real story: Jacks is alive and well. The original song, Le Mori bund by Flench singer Jacques Brel, was about a man who was dying from a broken heart. Jacks was in spired to record an English version far more heart-breaking after playing golf with one of his best friends, who jfl lACKS a woman who worked in an office below' Fbster. After he visited her office four times on business, some one cracked that Fbster was going there to see McKee, whose nick name was Bobbie. “Oh,” he joked back, “have you heard about me and Bobbie McKee?” As soon as he said it, Foster says, he knew he had something. “It had the rhyme in it,” the songwriter says. “That struck a chord in me.” ffe 1 Wildfire by Michael Martin Murphey (1975) The mystery: A winter storm leads to the death of a horse and a girl. Were they real? Is the narrator haunted by their ghosts? The real story: This classic has enjoyed a rebirth, thanks to recent exposure on The Late Show with David Letter man. Murphey’s grand- father told him stories) ■P about a ghost mustang; that jumped off a cliff to) avoid being captured. The song-1 writer later had a dream about a j ghost horse, leading to inspire-j tion. “I woke up at 3 am.,” says ! L Murphey, whose new album, | E? HeaHland Cowboy , includes) two new versions of the song.; “I was in a sleeping bag on' the floor. I started writing it I ■1 down on a yellow pad.” These; days, the songwriter keeps; (j a pad by his bed to jot down [ his dreams. C 3 ll Is MURPHEY KWSTOf rERSON. LOGGINS: MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVE S/GETTY IMAGES: EMINEM: KEVIN MAZUR. WIRE IMAGE.