50 Best Rock Songs About Gifts

Rock Songs That Feel Like Gifts You Never Asked For

There’s a strange kind of tenderness that lingers when someone hands you something you didn’t expect. Not the holiday kind wrapped in paper, but the kind that drops out of nowhere—a late-night call, a record left behind, a song that hits harder than the person meant it to. Rock has a way of twisting that feeling until it hums. You can hear it in the rough edges, in the messy gratitude, in the way a riff carries both apology and offering. These tracks hold that uneasy sweetness, the kind that makes you realize some gifts land heavy before they start to mean something.

Sometimes the best songs feel like someone trying to say what they couldn’t manage face-to-face. Maybe it’s a guitar solo that cracks open like regret, or a chorus that sounds like forgiveness buried under feedback. Some of these tracks might not be literally tied to giving or receiving, but they fit that space anyway—the one where something personal changes hands, quietly or not. There’s overlap here with pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that deal in human exchange, where the “gift” could be a memory, a warning, a last bit of hope someone didn’t know how to keep.

Every lyric feels like it’s carrying a note folded twice, tucked where you’ll find it later. Some gifts don’t look like much when they show up, but they end up living rent-free in your head for years. These songs lean into that strange, uneven generosity—the kind that shows up without a bow and stays longer than planned. Here are the best rock songs about gifts.

1. 'What You Give' by Tesla

2. 'The Gift' by The Velvet Underground

3. 'A Gift' by The Cure

4. 'God Gave Rock and Roll to You II' by KISS

5. 'Handle With Care' by The Traveling Wilburys

6. 'The Gift' by Seether

7. 'The Gift' by INXS

8. 'Give A Little Bit' by Supertramp

9. 'What I Am' by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians

10. 'Give To Live' by Sammy Hagar

11. 'All That I've Got I'm Gonna Give It To You' by Billy Preston

12. 'Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)' by George Harrison

13. 'The Gift That Keeps Giving' by Super Furry Animals

14. 'Present' by Peter Hammill

15. 'Sweetest Gift' by Emmylou Harris

16. 'Give It Away' by Red Hot Chili Peppers

17. 'Return the Gift' by Gang of Four

18. 'Gimme Shelter' by The Rolling Stones

19. 'What Do You Want From Me?' by Pink Floyd

20. 'With a Little Help from My Friends' by The Beatles

21. 'Gimme Three Steps' by Lynyrd Skynyrd

22. 'Gimme Some Lovin'' by The Spencer Davis Group

23. 'Give and Take' by The Cars

24. 'Presents To Send You' by Jimmy Buffett

25. 'Just Give Me a Reason' by Pink featuring Nate Ruess

26. 'I Give to You' by Nitzer Ebb

27. 'Just Give Me Tonight' by Michael Stanley Band

28. 'A Present From Yourself' by Peggy Balensuela

29. 'Give Me the Night' by George Benson

30. 'Thank You' by Led Zeppelin

31. 'You Get What You Give' by New Radicals

32. 'The Gift of Song' by Neil Diamond

33. 'Gift Shop' by The Tragically Hip

34. 'This Diamond Ring' by Gary Lewis & The Playboys

35. 'The Gift' by Angels & Airwaves

36. 'Things You Gave Me' by Ian Matthews

37. 'Lying From You' by Linkin Park

38. 'Giving That Heaven Away' by Jackson Browne

39. 'Give Us a Kiss' by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

40. 'I'll Keep It With Mine' by Bob Dylan

41. 'Presents' by Randy Newman

42. 'The Gift of a Friend' by Demi Lovato

43. 'Love Is a Gift' by Olivia Newton-John

44. 'My Gift To You' by Korn

45. 'I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)' by Howlin' Wolf

46. 'Gift of the Gods' by Kas Product

47. 'The Greatest Gift of All' by Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers

48. 'The Gift to Be Simple' by The King's Singers

49. 'Giving To You' by Traffic

50. 'Simple Gifts' by Raffi