Everybody Knows
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
And everybody knows that it's now or never
Everybody knows that it's me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when you've done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old black Joe's still pickin cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows
And everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that it's moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But there's gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows
And everybody knows that you're in trouble
Everybody knows what you've been through
From the bloody cross on top of Calvary
To the beach of Malibu
Everybody knows its coming apart
Take one last look at this sacred heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows
Commentary
Here’s another song lyric that I love and think people will enjoy. Last year, a group of people did a show of Leonard Cohen songs, which they performed in New York and Sydney. It’s the basis for a documentary about Cohen that’s in theaters now, called ‘Came So Far for Beauty’. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack, which is phenomenal, and particularly love the following song, performed on the album by Rufus Wainwright.
Here’s what I love about this song. The first three stanzas let up this barbed, vicious view of human nature. The world is sick, they say, because people are crooked. Then with the next stanza the focus of all that hostility shifts from the world at large to an unfaithful lover. You automatically reinterpret the stuff in the third stanza about ‘everybody wants a box of chocolates, a long stemmed rose’ from belonging to the first sentiment to belonging to the second.
More gradually, the meaning of the refrain, ‘everybody knows’ shifts too, from ‘everybody knows the sad truth of the world’ to ‘everybody knows that you’ve been unfaithful to me.’
This terrific conflation of the individual, personal hurt and the grand sense that the world is sinful works in a macro way - as a betrayed lover, you do feel that you’ve been betrayed by the whole world. Cohen emphasizes the theme by conflating big and small things throughout the song. For example ‘Everybody got this broken feeling/ Like their father or their dog just died’. One would think that these would be different orders of grief, but not in this song. Another example is ‘Everybody knows what you’ve been through/ From the bloody cross on top of Calvary/ To the beach of Malibu’.
The other thing I love about the song is just simply the great lines. For example, the run up to the instance of ‘everybody knows’ where you suddenly realize it means ‘everybody knows you’ve been unfaithful’ goes like this
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows
I also love
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old black Joe's still pickin cotton
For your ribbons and bows
Leonard Cohen’s got this deep unvarying monotone of a voice, that has turned me off to his music for years. This album of good (and some great) singers has given me an appreciation for what a great lyricist he is.
— Matt Chanoff
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Andrew Sydlik · 2 September 2006
This has to be my favorite Cohen lyric. I agree that the conflation of personal and existential pain is brilliant, subtle in a way even though it is also plain and matter-of-fact; it’s not melodramatic. I can’t think of a better song that handles existential angst in a more complete, down-to-earth no-frills way. Cohen’s voice isn’t the most beautiful and the lack of dynamism can be off-putting, but it does have a hypnotic, atmospheric quality if I’m in the right mood. By the way, I saw the documentary, which is called “I’m Your Man” not “Came So Far For Beauty.”