50 Best Rock Songs About Betrayal of Friendship

Rock Tracks on Broken Friendships and Betrayal

There’s a certain sting that comes when someone you once called a friend flips the script. It isn’t the cinematic heartbreak of a romance unraveling, it’s sharper in a quieter way. The gut punch hits at small moments—the inside joke used against you, the secret spilled, the sudden silence where loyalty should be. Rock songs carry that edge well, since guitars and raw vocals tend to sound like frayed trust. Some tracks take the theme literally, others come at it sideways, but they all lock into that uneasy space where friendship turns sour.

The thing about betrayal between friends is it never lands neatly. Sometimes the music spells it out like a callout, other times it hides in metaphors that still land in the same place. A lyric about distance or resentment can ring truer than a song that spells out backstabbing word for word. Plenty of pop, rock, country, and R&B songs stumble into the territory too, which makes sense since the lines between love, loyalty, and disappointment tend to blur. The hook hits, the riff drags it along, and suddenly a song written decades ago feels like it was aimed at your own fallout.

Some of these tracks go heavy with anger, others simmer under the surface, but they all have that bitter aftertaste. They work because they echo the messy middle of friendship gone wrong, even when the writer might not have had that exact picture in mind. Not every song here is a straight-up confession of betrayal, but they still vibe with the feeling. Here are the best rock songs on betrayal between friends that hit hard enough to soundtrack that kind of rupture.

1. 'You Oughta Know' by Alanis Morissette

2. 'Seventy Times 7' by Brand New

3. 'Positively 4th Street' by Bob Dylan

4. 'Fake Plastic Trees' by Radiohead

5. 'I Don't Know' by The Offspring

6. 'My Friends' by Red Hot Chili Peppers

7. 'Not My Problem' by All My Friends Hate Me

8. 'We Trusted You' by Transplants

9. 'Fake Friends' by Sigrid

10. 'Crucify the Dead' by Slash & Ozzy Osbourne

11. 'Ignorance' by Paramore

12. 'Fairweather Friends' by Queens of the Stone Age

13. 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' by The Verve

14. 'Smile' by Lily Allen

15. 'I Don't Care Anymore' by Phil Collins

16. 'Jerk' by Oliver Tree

17. 'Bury a Friend' by Billie Eilish

18. 'Trust Nobody' by D4

19. 'Shame' by Bastille

20. 'Pretend Best Friend' by Terrorvision

21. 'Real Friends' by Kanye West

22. 'Cowboys from Hell' by Pantera

23. 'Don't Speak' by No Doubt

24. 'Say Hello 2 Heaven' by Temple of the Dog

25. 'All My Friends Are Fake' by Tate McRae

26. 'I'm Still Standing' by Elton John

27. 'Liar' by Henry Rollins

28. 'All My Friends Hate Me' by Knocked Loose

29. 'I Knew I Couldn't Trust You' by Silverstein

30. 'The Grudge' by Olivia Rodrigo

31. 'No I in Team' by Taking Back Sunday

32. 'Take Care' by Drake

33. 'We're Not Friends' by The Fray

34. 'Ordinary World' by Duran Duran

35. 'The Times They Are A Changin'' by Bob Dylan

36. 'Careful' by Paramore

37. 'New Friends' by Jordana Bryant

38. 'You've Got Another Thing Comin'' by Judas Priest

39. 'The Best of You' by Foo Fighters

40. 'FRENEMIES' by Stand Atlantic

41. 'That's What Friends Are For' by Dionne Warwick

42. 'Cruel Summer' by Bananarama

43. 'Motion Sickness' by Phoebe Bridgers

44. 'You Keep Me Hangin' On' by Kim Wilde

45. 'I'd Rather Be Me' from Mean Girls

46. 'Fake Love' by BTS

47. 'Bad Blood' by Taylor Swift

48. 'Traitors' by The Swell Season

49. 'Welcome to the Room, Sara' by Fleetwood Mac

50. 'Used to Be Friends' by Searows