Synopsis

Bryan Adams performs "Cuts Like a Knife" inside a drained, abandoned swimming pool, turning the stark concrete setting into a dramatic stage. He sings and plays guitar amid the empty basin while a woman moves through the pool area, watches him, and shares intimate moments with him. The video's stripped-down visual style matches the song's emotional tension, contrasting Adams' energetic performance with imagery of isolation, desire, and romantic hurt.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed inside the empty pool of the Hollywood Athletic Club at 6525 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. The pool had reportedly been drained and unused for several years.

• The woman featured in the video was Raquel Pena, a Penthouse model. She later recalled that the casting emphasized finding someone with particularly long legs.

• Pena also said the production was so low-budget that she wore the same black bathing suit she had used during her audition.

• The pool location later hosted Bryan Adams' platinum album party, giving the setting a second connection to the success of the "Cuts Like a Knife" album.

• The video helped push Adams into wider American exposure during 1983, receiving heavy MTV rotation as the album established him as a major rock artist.

• The version used in the video is the single edit of "Cuts Like a Knife."

• In a 1984 Music Express readers' poll reported by Billboard, "Cuts Like a Knife" was named Canada's top video, alongside honors for the song and album.