Everybody Knows - Leonard Cohen

I was listening to Amazon Music the other day and this song came on. I feel like it fits ATS perfectly (from cynically to truthfully):

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

Awesome, awesome arteest... awesome, awesome composition.

a reply to: Baddogma
I know right? I hadn't heard it before it popped up on Amazon Music, but its so well done. I fell in love with it immediately. The melody really matches the cynicism of his singing. Plus you also get the feeling with him constantly saying "Everybody knows" that he is also being kind of sarcastic about people's beliefs. There is just so much going on here.

Makes you want to sit down with a glass of whiskey and cigarette. And I don't even smoke cigarettes!

a reply to: Krazysh0t
Great body of work for him. Keeps me thinking, and fun to sing.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Leonard cohen was the man. A poet ahead of his time and a damn good musician. One of my top favs.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

I like that; truly cool. Looked up the guy on Wikipedia; born 1934, died 2016.

His style, voice and cynicism; its almost like he's channeling Serge Gainsbourg.

Thanks for the find.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

originally posted by: DogStarIn1066
a reply to: Krazysh0t
Great body of work for him. Keeps me thinking, and fun to sing.

OMG Yes! I love singing this song.

A Canadian secret to a lot of people which is quite surprising considering the quality of his work . maybe a canadian Bob Dylan sort of

a reply to: the2ofusr1
Makes sense. I found the song on the Bob Dylan station I was listening to at the time.

Definitely going to check out more of his music now though.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

He's not an easy artist to like. I got into him through this track after hearing it on 'Pump Up the Volume.' Christian Slater film no less.

You'll like this one too if it's dark lyrics you're listening for:

Suzanne is another good one, classic, and covered by many including Nick Cave. It's catchy and singalong as well as being cool.

a reply to: Kandinsky

I'll give them a listen. Thanks.

I always called him Mr Razor Blades Music because after the first song you'd wished they'd put some razor blades in the sleeve so you could kill yourself. That was my theory anyway. I don't think I could survive a whole concert, let's put it like that. All respect due.

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Then quit while you're ahead...his stuff is melancholy on a good day. The heroin style of Lou Reed has nothing on Cohen. No doubt he's a poet and all, but he's like sleeping pills without the peace.

a reply to: Kandinsky

Lol. Well now at least I have a musician to listen to the next time I'm depressed after a bad day and trying to drown myself in alcohol.

"Cohen" is Hebrew for "priest" but I have also heard, "teacher". Both seem apt to the ouvre he produced.

If you have not done a deep delve into Leonard Cohen then you are in for a treat!

All musicians eventually try their hand at this song: (Wikipedia: Hallelujah).

He tells you the chord progression in the song. "it goes like this," C major; "the fourth," F major; "the fifth," G major; "the minor fall," A minor; "and the major lift," F major. (same source, just better laid out).

John Cale's version

www.youtube.com...

I like the atmospheric into with the rain (the theme of the album) and its simplicity. He is another artist you might like.

Leonard Cohen - Live in London


I like the band and the organ solo. Then there is a fretless guitar that I always will find intriguing!

Both versions can make you well up if you are in that kind of mood. Or make you smile for no g_d_ reason at all! Which is the mark of a great song. And probably why musicians try their hand at giving it a performance.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

I was just going to post this!
Cohen's is not my favorite version of this song, but there is no denying the powerful words

This version rocks for me....

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I didn't want to hog all the versions! (I like that one too!)

Plus we are here to talk about Everybody Knows, I just wanted to point out just how much of a "musician's musician" the man is!

I like these lyrics for no particular reason...

Everybody knows the Plague is coming
Everybody knows that its moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past

Such a succinct wrap up of the Summer of Love. Heck, it took Hunter S. Thompson a whole book to describe the coming of the 1970s (Fear and Loathing).

And his seamless weaving of religious imagery to personal indiscretions, "From the bloody cross on top of Calvary, to the beach of Malibu"... everybody knows.

Genius!

Cohen was a master. A poet. Many of his songs had deep meaning and can be interpreted in different ways. I have many favourites. But the OP's is a good choice. Hallelujah's good, but far from his best, and greatly abused by people who cover the poor song! There has been some truly awful covers of Hallelujah - really, really bad.