Song · The Knife
“HeartBeats” by The Knife
From the album Deep Cuts (2003)
“HeartBeats” by The Knife appears on 10 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 2013 and 2025. It was first released in 2003 on the album Deep Cuts. Its best result is #95 on the KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #949 indie & aaa song of all time.
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"Heartbeats" was the Knife's first single from Deep Cuts, the Swedish duo's second album, coming out at home on 27 December 2002 and again in October 2004. The Stockholm siblings Karin and Olof Dreijer wrote it and produced and recorded it themselves, with Christoffer Berg helping on the mix.
It's synth-pop with the lights turned low: a bright, pinging hook over minimal beats, and Karin's voice cool and faraway on top, a delivery critics heard as a cousin to Björk and Siouxsie Sioux. Haunting is the word that keeps coming up, and it fits. The critics came round in force: Pitchfork put it at number 15 among the songs of the 2000s, and Rolling Stone had it at 87 on its own list of the decade.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 209 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) | 885 |
| 2018 | 706 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2018 | 668 | WTMD | WTMD Listeners' Top 897 Songs, 2003-2018 | 896 |
| 2019 | 95 | KEXP | KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time | 627 |
| 2022 | 182 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
| 2022 | 95 | KEXP | KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) | 491 |
| 2024 | 447 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
| 2024 | 268 | KEXP | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time | 738 |
| 2024 | 411 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
| 2025 | 390 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
Also listed as: Heartbeats.
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