"Knives Out" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released as the second single from their fifth album, Amnesiac (2001). It features lyrics about cannibalism and guitars influenced by the Smiths. "Knives Out" received positive reviews and reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the Canadian Singles Chart. The music video was directed by Michel Gondry. Recording Radiohead recorded "Knives Out" between 1999 and 2000 during the sessions for their albums Kid A and Amnesiac, which were recorded simultaneously. In November 1999, they performed "Knives Out" during a webcast from their studio. According to a studio diary kept by the guitarist Ed O'Brien, "Knives Out" took 373 days to complete. He wrote that it was "probably the most straight-ahead thing we've done in years ... and that might explain why we took so long on it". He felt that successful bands often over-embellish their music, especially songs written on acoustic guitar, but that Radiohead had captured the song's essence. "Knives Out" was influenced by the British rock band the Smiths. Before its release, O'Brien played it for the Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who said: "I was beyond flattered and quite speechless – which takes some doing. He explained to me that with that song they'd tried to take a snapshot of the way I'd done things in the Smiths – and I guess you can hear that in it." Composition According to Drowned in Sound, "Knives Out" is the most conventional song on Amnesiac. It features "chiming" and "drifting" guitar lines, "driving" percussion, a "wandering" bassline, "haunting" vocals and "eerie" lyrics. The singer, Thom Yorke, said the lyrics were about cannibalism. He said: "It's partly the idea of the businessman walking out on his wife and kids and never coming back. It's also the thousand-yard stare when you look at someone close to you and you know they're gonna die." Music video The "Knives Out" music video was directed by Michel Gondry. Gondry was going through a breakup at the time, and expressed his feelings in the video concept, which has Yorke grieving in a hospital room. Gondry described the collaboration as a "terrible experience", and said: "I showed [Yorke] a storyboard and every single detail: he was completely excited and happy for it – and then, it turned out, they all criticise me for being selfish and putting my own views on