"Everybody Knows"
Song by Leonard Cohen
from the album I'm Your Man
ReleasedFebruary 1988
GenreSynth-pop
Length5:37
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Leonard Cohen
Sharon Robinson

"Everybody Knows" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen and collaborator Sharon Robinson. It has often been covered and used in soundtracks.

Song

"Everybody Knows" was first released on Cohen's album I'm Your Man, February 1988. Five minutes, 37 seconds long, "Everybody Knows" is known for its somber tone and repetition of the title at the beginning of most lines. Featuring phrases such as "Everybody knows that the dice are loaded" and "Everybody knows that the good guys lost", "Everybody Knows" has been variously described by critics as "bitterly pessimistic" yet funny, or, more strongly, a "bleak prophecy about the end of the world as we know it".[1] The lyrics include references to AIDS,[2] social problems,[3] and relationships and religion.[4]

Soundtracks

"Everybody Knows" has been widely used in television and film. Allan Moyle's 1990 film Pump Up the Volume features the song prominently. A favorite of protagonist Mark Hunter (Christian Slater, as the operator of an FM pirate radio station), Cohen's song is played from an on-screen phonograph several times during Mark's clandestine broadcasts. A cover by Concrete Blonde is used at the film's end, and it is this cover version that made it onto the film's soundtrack album rather than Cohen's version.

Cohen's original version was also featured prominently in Atom Egoyan's 1994 film Exotica, as the theme music of exotic dancer Christina (Mia Kirshner) when she performs at the club of the film's title. The soundtrack album for Exotica, featuring music composed by Mychael Danna, does not include Cohen's recording of this song, either.

"Everybody Knows" was also used in an August 2008 anti-smoking advertisement commissioned by the New South Wales government in Australia with the theme "everybody knows smoking causes these diseases ... yet you still do it".[5]

Cover versions

Like many of Cohen's songs, "Everybody Knows" has been covered by several artists:

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
France (SNEP)[9] 88

Concrete Blonde version

Chart (1990) Peak
position
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[10] 20

References

  1. ^ Holden, Stephen (June 21, 2006). 'Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man': A Documentary Song of Praise. The New York Times. Accessed July 14, 2006.
  2. ^ Stephen Scobie, Intricate preparations: writing Leonard Cohen, ECW Press, 2000, ISBN 1-55022-433-6, p. 123.
  3. ^ Maurice Ratcliff, The complete guide to the music of Leonard Cohen, Omnibus Press, 1999, ISBN 0-7119-7508-6, p. 81.
  4. ^ Barry Alan Farber, Rock 'n' roll wisdom: what psychologically astute lyrics teach about life and love, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, ISBN 0-275-99164-4, p. 25.
  5. ^ "Games viewers get shock anti-smoking ad". The Sydney Morning Herald. August 15, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  6. ^ "Concrete Blonde - Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  7. ^ "Music Video: New Videoclips" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 32. August 11, 1990. p. 63. Retrieved January 31, 2022 – via World Radio History.
  8. ^ "Joss Whedon Chose Justice League Opening Song". ScreenRant. December 4, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  9. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés – SNEP (Week 46, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  10. ^ "Concrete Blonde Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
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