Monday, December 2, 2019

Leonard Cohen 30-Day Tribute ... Day 10: Everybody Knows

Day 10: Everybody Knows

In the interview posted yesterday, Cohen calls his voice disagreeable and says that's why he likes to have women's "sweet voices" backing him up.

From Song Meanings: "Leonard Cohen's bitterly pessimistic song about the state of the world in the late 1980s. When he first introduced the song, he said, "Here's a terrible new song. Yes, it embodies all my darkest thoughts. Here it comes."

In regards to the verse about the plague, Cohen said in an interview, 'The plague in the most physical sense is AIDS. But there's another kind of plague going on too, of which AIDS is one of the symptoms. If indeed disease does have ultimately a psychic origin, then there's a plague of alienation and separation and lassitude and panic; a sense of not being in control.'"

YouTube offers such a wide range of offerings that it's possible to compare the song sung at different times in his career.

Here are some different versions, starting with its release in 1988.

Everybody Knows 1988 ... lovely mandolin riffs

Leonard Cohen - Everybody Knows (Live in London) 2008
 ... Cohen seems to be really enjoying his musicians and backup ... my favorite version 

Everybody Knows Live in Dublin 2014

Lyrics:

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows 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 it's 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
 
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
 
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows

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