50 Best Rock Songs About Violence Against Women
Rock Songs That Confront Violence Against Women
There’s a kind of chill that hits when a song cuts too close to the truth. The guitars grind, the vocals scrape, and somewhere under the noise, there’s a story you can’t shake off. It’s not pretty, not something to sing along to without thinking. These tracks carry bruises, real or implied, sometimes told in first person, sometimes hidden under metaphors. Some come from the same space as protest anthems, others sound like confessions left on tape. A few may not be literally centered on the topic, but they orbit close enough to feel it in your chest.
You can hear it in the slow burn of a riff that never resolves, in the uneasy way the lyrics turn from soft to sharp. There’s that sense of imbalance that fits the subject too well, like the music itself is recoiling. The best of these songs refuse to clean it up or make it poetic. They hang around in the discomfort, the kind that lingers when the volume drops. They belong to the same long, messy lineage that threads through pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that stare down pain without pretending to fix it.
Some of these tracks come from anger, some from empathy, some from the kind of storytelling that exposes what people try to bury. They’re not easy listens, but they shouldn’t be. Each one carries a fragment of a bigger picture that keeps replaying across decades. These are the best rock songs that confront violence against women.
Top 10 Violence Against Women Rock Songs
1. 'Run for Your Life' by The Beatles
2. 'Only Women Bleed' by Alice Cooper
3. 'Used to Love Her' by Guns N' Roses
4. 'Under My Thumb' by The Rolling Stones
5. 'Face Down' by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
6. 'Die, Die My Darling' by The Misfits
7. 'Janie's Got a Gun' by Aerosmith
8. 'He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)' by The Crystals
9. 'Luka' by Suzanne Vega
10. 'Where the Wild Roses Grow' by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Kylie Minogue
Domestic Violence and Abuse Themed Rock Songs #11 to 20
11. 'You're All I Need' by Mötley Crüe
12. 'Polly' by Nirvana
13. 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap' by AC/DC
14. 'Rearviewmirror' by Pearl Jam
15. 'Smack My Bitch Up' by The Prodigy
16. 'A Little Piece of Heaven' by Avenged Sevenfold
17. 'In a Darkened Room' by Skid Row
18. 'Bang and Blame' by R.E.M.
19. 'Eva' by Nightwish
20. 'Needle and the Damage Done' by Neil Young
Controversial Songs About Relationship Violence #21 to 30
21. 'Down by the River' by Neil Young
22. 'The Thunder Rolls' by Garth Brooks
23. 'I Used to Love Her' by Slash's Snakepit
24. 'Caleb Meyer' by Alison Krauss
25. 'Never Again' by Nickelback
26. 'Hey Joe' by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
27. 'Church Bells' by Carrie Underwood
28. 'Get Your Gunn' by Marilyn Manson
29. 'I Hate Everything About You' by Three Days Grace
30. 'Goodbye Earl' by The Chicks
Rock and Metal Songs Addressing Abuse #31 to 40
31. 'The Killing of Georgie' by Rod Stewart
32. 'Me and a Gun' by Tori Amos
33. 'Shoot' by Sonic Youth
34. 'Delilah' by Tom Jones
35. 'Angel' by Blue October
36. 'Gunpowder & Lead' by Miranda Lambert
37. 'At Least That's What You Said' by Wilco
38. 'Independence Day' by Martina McBride
39. 'Pulling Teeth' by Green Day
40. 'Voices Carry' by 'Til Tuesday
Songs with Themes of Control and Violence #41 to 50
41. 'Better Man' by Pearl Jam
42. 'Cherry Wine' by Hozier
43. 'Ballad of Hollis Brown' by Bob Dylan
44. 'Family Portrait' by P!nk
45. 'The Red Means I Love You' by Madds Buckley
46. 'Just One Drink' by Jack White
47. 'Wait in the Truck' by Hardy featuring Lainey Wilson
48. 'The Ripper' by Judas Priest
49. 'Criminal' by Fiona Apple
50. 'Sweet Sacrifice' by Evanescence
© 2025 Carson McQueen
