Rian Johnson's Knives Out soundtrack is just one of the many elements that goes into making it a modern whodunit classic. The movie has a fantastic score to set the mood for the mystery, but it also includes a few songs in certain scenes throughout the film. Starring Daniel Craig as famed detective, Benoit Blanc, Knives Out is Johnson's homage to the classic murder mystery, pulling inspiration from Agatha Christie to Clue and everything in between. The Knives Out soundtrack highlights how Rian Johnson was willing to pay homage to the typical genre feel while bringing his own style into it.

With Knives Out, Johnson found a new way to approach the murder mystery genre, kicking off a franchise with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and confirmation of Knives Out 3 on the way. For the film's score, Johnson enlists his go-to composer and actual cousin, Nathan Johnson, who previously scored his earlier films. Here, he creates a score that's perfectly suited for a murder mystery, building tension and helping to bring a heightened emotion to each twist and turn. Yet the soundtrack is filled with recognizable music as well as artists from The Rolling Stones to Gordon Lightfoot.

Every Song In Knives Out

daniel craig as benoit blanc in knives out

Along with Nathan Johnson's score, there are a handful of songs featured throughout Knives Out. Interestingly, the one song many would expect in a movie with this title - Radiohead's "Knives Out" - does not make an appearance. Rian Johnson - who is himself a huge Radiohead fan and admits the song is where he got the idea for the film's title - would later explain to the L.A. Times he doubted they could afford the track, but added that if viewers "start humming the song in your head, that doesn’t cost us a dime." Otherwise, here's every song that's actually heard in Knives Out:

  • "More Than This" - Roxy Music
  • "The Inspector" - Tal Bergman
  • "Animal Zoo" - Spirit
  • "Righteous Rocker #1" - Larry Norman
  • "Sundown" - Gordon Lightfoot
  • "Lightning Rod" - Craig Carothers
  • "E strano! - 'Ah, fors'è lui'" from La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi - Anna Netrebko & Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Carlo Rizzi
  • "Losing My Mind" from Follies by Stephen Sondiem - Daniel Craig
  • "Sweet Virginia" - The Rolling Stones

How Knives Out Uses Its Soundtrack

A family around a birthday cake in Knives Out.

Quite a few of the songs heard in Knives Out come from the flashback scenes to Harlan's (Christopher Plummer) party. For instance, Roxy Music's "More Than This" is the song Joni (Toni Collete) dances to at the party, irritating her sister-in-law, Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis). Later on in the film, while Marta (Ana de Armas) is explaining to Ransom (Chris Evans) what happened to his grandfather, more music can be heard playing. In this case, it's songs like Larry Norman's "Righteous Rocker #1" playing in the background of the roadside diner. This scene also includes Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown" with lyrics that actually hint at the Knives Out killer twist.

Classic rock and pop songs aren't all that's heard in Knives Out, either. The film includes the opera track, "E strano! - 'Ah, fors'è lui'" from La Traviata and it plays during the scene of Blanc sitting quietly with Great Nana (K Callan), Harlan's mother. Just before Marta meets with Fran (Edi Patterson), she leaves Blanc behind in her car. As he's waiting for her to return, Blanc is seen wearing headphones and, from his singing along, we know he's listening to "Losing My Mind," a song from the Stephen Sondheim musical, Follies. For its credits song, Knives Out returns to the classic genre, though this time with a touch of country twang, choosing "Sweet Virginia" to end Knives Out.

How Does The Knives Out Soundtrack Compare To Glass Onion

Daniel Craig in Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery

Continuing the cases of Benoit Blanc, Rian Johnson seemed determined to give Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery a different vibe and it also resulted in music very different from the Knives Out soundtrack. The sequel finds Blanc spending a weekend on a private island with a collection of "disrupters" for a murder mystery party that gets a little too real. Glass Onion has a somewhat goofier and over-the-top tone compared to Knives Out and Johnson uses certain songs in Glass Onion in a less subtle yet still clever way.

This includes Nat King Cole's "Mona Lisa" which plays during the climactic moment when the house and a certain painting are set on fire. More amusingly, the song "Glass Onion" by The Beatles plays during the credits, out-doing Knives Out by getting the titular song in there. However, the song is about fans looking for hidden messages or deeper meaning in The Beatles' songs when there aren't any. It speaks to Miles as a character as well as Blanc's eventual epiphany in solving the case, looking beyond the complicated details and focusing on the obvious answer staring him in the face.