Cuts Like A Knife

This song was written by Bryan Adams and songwriter Jim Vallance. It became the highest-charting song from the album of the same title, and has become one of his most popular songs, appearing on almost all of Adams' compilation albums.

Jim Vallance has had a prolific songwriting career, having composed for Bonnie Raitt, Aerosmith, Carly Simon, Rod Stewart, Roger Daltrey, Tina Turner, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Anne Murray and Joe Cocker. He is a four-time winner of the Canadian Juno award for Composer of the Year - the only person to have such a distinction.
Bryan Adams himself has an impressive trophy case to show off. He has been nominated for 17 Grammy Awards, three of which he won, all for his soundtrack work on the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Add to this one American Music Award (nominated three times), 18 Juno Awards (nominated fifty-five times), one MTV Video Music Award (nominated ten times), and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010.

In a 1988 interview with Canada's Georgia Straight newspaper, Adams reveals that the chorus for this song came about when he was jamming on the guitar and singing "it cuts like a knife" over and over again. Vallance started chiming in with "but it feels so right." Vallance pointed out in deciding to go with a simple "na-na-na" backing chorus, he was intentionally invoking songs like The Beatles' "Hey Jude," Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," and Journey's "Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin."