50 Best Rock Songs About Knives
Sharp-Edged Anthems for Rock Fans
There’s a certain thrill that comes with songs built around sharp edges. Not the clean, studio-glossed kind, but the gritty kind that sounds like steel clashing in the dark. It’s the pulse that runs through riffs that bite back, lyrics that flirt with danger, and voices that cut through the noise like they mean it. These tracks feel wired, twitchy, a little reckless. They pull from the same energy that fuels stories of survival, temptation, and power—the kind of themes that show up across pop, rock, country, and R&B songs when the mood turns raw.
The thing is, not every track with a blade in its hand talks about one literally. Sometimes the knife’s a metaphor hiding in heartbreak, pride, or revenge. Other times it’s front and center, flashing in the lyrics like a warning light. There’s something magnetic about that image—the cold glint before the hit, the calm that comes right before chaos. These songs don’t smooth over the danger. They sit in it, letting the sound sting a little before the next chord lands.
You can almost picture the crowd when these songs kick in. The lights flicker, the air goes tight, and the guitars come out swinging. It’s not clean or pretty but that’s the point. The best of these tracks feel like they’re holding something unstable, barely keeping it together before it all spills out. Here are the best rock songs that draw blood in all the right ways.
Top 10 Knife Rock Songs
1. 'Cuts Like a Knife' by Bryan Adams
2. 'Knife Prty' by Deftones
3. 'Six Blade Knife' by Dire Straits
4. 'The Knife' by Genesis
5. 'Knives Out' by Radiohead
6. 'A Box Full of Sharp Objects' by The Used
7. 'Switchblade' by Incubus
8. 'Pocket Knife' by PJ Harvey
9. 'Cutting Knife' by Bruce Springsteen
10. 'Razor' by Foo Fighters
The Best Rock Knife Songs #11 to 20
11. 'Razor Dance' by Richard Thompson
12. 'Bed of Nails' by Joseph Arthur
13. 'Dolly Dagger' by Jimi Hendrix
14. 'Stiletto' by Billy Joel
15. 'The Needle Has Landed' by Neko Case
16. 'Screwdriver' by The White Stripes
17. 'A Knife For The Girls' by The Long Blondes
18. 'Twist the Knife' by That Handsome Devil
19. 'Twist the Knife (Slow Knife)' by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
20. 'Knife' by Aztec Camera
Essential Rock Knife Songs #21 to 30
21. 'We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives' by Los Campesinos!
22. 'Switchblade Romance' by Him
23. 'Razor Blade Sky' by Queenadreena
24. 'Thorn in My Pride' by The Black Crowes
25. 'Blade' by The Smashing Pumpkins
26. 'I Have the Knife' by The Sound
27. 'Knife Edge' by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
28. 'Knife Talk' by Drake featuring 21 Savage & Project Pat
29. 'Knife Fight' by The Lemon Demon
30. 'The Briar and the Rose' by Tom Waits
More Great Rock Knife Songs #31 to 40
31. 'Seamstress' by Dessa
32. 'Crosscut Saw' by Albert King
33. 'Guillotine' by Jon Bellion
34. 'Marjory Razorblade' by Kevin Coyne
35. 'Piranha' by The Kinks
36. 'Razor Love' by Neil Young
37. 'Twisted Knife' by Electric Six
38. 'Rusty Cage' by Soundgarden
39. 'Needle and the Damage Done' by Neil Young
40. 'Sympathy is a Knife' by Charli XCX
Deep Cuts Rock Knife Songs #41 to 50
41. 'Stabbed in the Back' by The Runaways
42. 'The Knife Song' by Bob Schneider
43. 'Switchblade Operator' by The Sword
44. 'Razor Burn' by The Gaslight Anthem
45. 'Bowie Knife' by Calexico
46. 'Shank' by The Misfits
47. 'Blade Runner' by The Mission
48. 'Scissors' by Our Lady Peace
49. 'Knife Edge' by Brett Anderson
50. 'Knives are Dangerous, Kid, so Cut the Theatrics!' by Jariah
© 2025 Carson McQueen
