50 Best Rock Songs About Criminals

Top Rock Tracks That Capture Life on the Wrong Side of the Law

There’s something magnetic about songs that circle around crime and chaos. They tap into that uneasy thrill, like watching flashing blue lights in the rearview mirror even when you know you’re clean. Some of these tracks are literal tales of getaways, heists, and bad decisions. Others are looser, tangled up in rebellion or a sense of being cornered. The stories are messy, raw, and sometimes exaggerated, the way myths grow around local legends. Not every song here spells it out, but the feeling sticks, like cigarette smoke on a jacket after a night you shouldn’t have been part of.

These tracks live in the spaces between folklore and police blotters. One might swagger like a folk hero, another might spiral into the paranoia of someone always looking over their shoulder. Even songs that aren’t literally about crime carry that sharp edge, the kind of storytelling that keeps you hooked. A lot of pop, rock, country, and R&B songs flirt with the outlaw archetype, but rock leans into it with loud guitars and a sneer that makes it feel dangerous. It’s less about clean endings and more about the adrenaline rush right before everything collapses.

Turn up the volume and you can almost picture the shadowy dive bars, the frantic runs through back alleys, the sirens that might be real or only in someone’s head. These songs throw you into that world for a few minutes, whether you want to be there or not. Here are the best rock songs that capture the rush and ruin of living like a criminal.

1. 'Jailhouse Rock' by Elvis Presley

2. 'Folsom Prison Blues' by Johnny Cash

3. 'I Fought the Law' by The Clash

4. 'Hurricane' by Bob Dylan

5. 'The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde' by Georgie Fame

6. 'Breaking the Law' by Judas Priest

7. 'Been Caught Stealing' by Jane's Addiction

8. 'Take the Money and Run' by Steve Miller Band

9. 'Smooth Criminal' by Michael Jackson

10. 'Jenny Was a Friend of Mine' by The Killers

11. 'Band on the Run' by Paul McCartney and Wings

12. 'Hey Joe' by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

13. 'The Mercy Seat' by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

14. 'The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia' by Vicki Lawrence

15. 'I Don't Like Mondays' by The Boomtown Rats

16. 'Psycho Killer' by Talking Heads

17. 'Copacabana' by Barry Manilow

18. 'Midnight Rambler' by The Rolling Stones

19. 'Delilah' by Tom Jones

20. 'The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)' by Rod Stewart

21. '18 and Life' by Skid Row

22. 'Jailbreak' by Thin Lizzy

23. 'Criminal' by Fiona Apple

24. 'Dirty Water' by The Standells

25. 'Police and Thieves' by The Clash

26. 'Georgia Lee' by Tom Waits

27. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen

28. 'El Paso' by Marty Robbins

29. 'Robbery, Assault and Battery' by Genesis

30. 'Bankrobber' by The Clash

31. 'Wanted Dead or Alive' by Bon Jovi

32. 'Run Like Hell' by Pink Floyd

33. 'Maggie May' by Rod Stewart

34. 'The Last of the Famous International Playboys' by Morrissey

35. 'The Joker' by Steve Miller Band

36. 'Thunder Road' by Bruce Springsteen

37. 'Nebraska' by Bruce Springsteen

38. 'John Wayne Gacy, Jr.' by Sufjan Stevens

39. 'Polly' by Nirvana

40. 'I Shot the Sheriff' by Eric Clapton

41. 'Suffer Little Children' by The Smiths

42. 'Mack the Knife' by Bobby Darin

43. 'Highway Star' by Deep Purple

44. 'Sam Hall' by Johnny Cash

45. 'The End' by The Doors

46. 'Janie's Got a Gun' by Aerosmith

47. 'The House of the Rising Sun' by The Animals

48. 'I'm a Criminal' by Hawkwind

49. 'Criminal' by The Black Eyed Peas

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