Everybody Knows
Encyclopedia
"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.
Five minutes, thirty-seven seconds in duration, "Everybody Knows" is known for its somber tone and repetition of the title at the beginning of most verses. 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." The lyrics include references to AIDS
, social problems, and relationship issues.
's 1990 film Pump Up the Volume
featured the song prominently. A favorite of protagonist Mark Hunter (Christian Slater
, as the operator of an underground 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.
The song is also used in the film King of Kong and as theme music for episodes of SexTV
. It was used in an episode of the Quebec mystery Fortier
. Though the show is entirely in French
, the song is played with its original English lyrics.
World renowned American rock band Guns N' Roses
also used to use the song as their introduction music just before starting some of their concerts on their two-year-long Use Your Illusion
world tour at the beginning of the 1990's.
Don Henley
's version is heard in episode 219 of the television series Judging Amy
, which aired in 2001. Recently the Concrete Blonde version was featured in the third episode of the first season of Dirty Sexy Money
entitled the "Italian Banker".
"Everybody Knows" has also been used in a June 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". Cohen's version serves as bumper music
for The Alex Jones Show, an American radio talk show.
The Toronto, Canada theater company Soulpepper used the song between scenes of its production of David Mamet's play Oleanna
in March 2011.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
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, thirty-seven seconds in duration, "Everybody Knows" is known for its somber tone and repetition of the title at the beginning of most verses. 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." The lyrics include references to AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, social problems, and relationship issues.
Soundtracks
"Everybody Knows" has been widely used in television and film. Allan MoyleAllan Moyle
Allan Moyle is a Canadian film director. He is best known for directing the films Pump Up the Volume and New Waterford Girl .-Biography:His first major film was Times Square...
's 1990 film Pump Up the Volume
Pump Up the Volume (film)
Pump Up the Volume is a 1990 comedy-drama film written and directed by Allan Moyle and starring Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis.- Plot summary :...
featured the song prominently. A favorite of protagonist Mark Hunter (Christian Slater
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
, as the operator of an underground radio station), Cohen's song is played from an on-screen phonograph several times during Mark's clandestine broadcasts. A cover by Concrete Blonde
Concrete Blonde
Concrete Blonde is an alternative rock band based in the United States. They were initially active from 1982 to 1995, and again from 2001 to 2004, and once again in 2010.-Biography:...
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
Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan, OC is a critically acclaimed Armenian-Canadian stage director and film director. Egoyan made his career breakthrough with Exotica...
's 1994 film Exotica
Exotica (film)
Exotica is a 1994 Canadian film set primarily in and around the Exotica strip club in Toronto, Canada. It was written and directed by Atom Egoyan. Music used includes "Montagues and Capulets".-Synopsis:...
, as the theme music of exotic dancer Christina (Mia Kirshner
Mia Kirshner
Mia Kirshner is a Canadian actress and social activist who works in movies and television series. She is best known for her portrayal of Jenny Schecter on The L Word and for her role in the 2006 crime film The Black Dahlia as Elizabeth Short.- Early life :Kirshner was born in Toronto, Ontario,...
) when she performs at the club of the film's title. The soundtrack album for Exotica, featuring music composed by Mychael Danna
Mychael Danna
Mychael Danna is a Canadian film composer.-Life and career:Mychael Danna is the brother of fellow composer Jeff Danna. He has been scoring films since his 1987 feature debut for Atom Egoyan's Family Viewing, a score which earned Danna the first of his thirteen Genie Award nominations. He has won...
, does not include Cohen's recording of this song, either.
The song is also used in the film King of Kong and as theme music for episodes of SexTV
SexTV
SexTV is a Canadian documentary television series which explores many issues about human sexuality. The show premiered in 1998 and spun off a television channel called SexTV: The Channel in 2001....
. It was used in an episode of the Quebec mystery Fortier
Fortier (TV series)
Fortier is a French-language Canadian television series which debuted on February 8, 2001 on TVA.Anne Fortier is a criminal psychologist who works with the investigators of SAS , a fictional police division specialising in crimes involving mental illnesses...
. Though the show is entirely in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, the song is played with its original English lyrics.
World renowned American rock band Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
also used to use the song as their introduction music just before starting some of their concerts on their two-year-long Use Your Illusion
Use Your Illusion
Use Your Illusion is a Guns N' Roses compilation album that is mixed from the Use Your Illusion I and II albums. It has only been released in the United States, consisting entirely of songs without profanity . However, not all songs without profanity were chosen to appear on this compilation...
world tour at the beginning of the 1990's.
Don Henley
Don Henley
Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...
's version is heard in episode 219 of the television series Judging Amy
Judging Amy
Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly...
, which aired in 2001. Recently the Concrete Blonde version was featured in the third episode of the first season of Dirty Sexy Money
Dirty Sexy Money
Dirty Sexy Money is an American prime time drama series created by Craig Wright, which ran on the ABC from September 26, 2007 to August 8, 2009. The series was produced by ABC Studios, Bad Hat Harry Productions, Berlanti Television and Gross Entertainment...
entitled the "Italian Banker".
"Everybody Knows" has also been used in a June 2008 anti-smoking advertisement commissioned by the New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
government in Australia with the theme "everybody knows smoking causes these diseases ... yet you still do it". Cohen's version serves as bumper music
Bumper music
Bumper music, or a bump, is a term used in the radio broadcasting industry to refer to short clips of signature or theme music used to buffer transitions between programming elements. Bumper music is commonly employed when a syndicated program takes a break for local station identification or...
for The Alex Jones Show, an American radio talk show.
The Toronto, Canada theater company Soulpepper used the song between scenes of its production of David Mamet's play Oleanna
Oleanna
Oleanna is:* Oleanna, a community in Ole Bull's colony New Norway, Pennsylvania* "Oleanna" , a folk song mocking Ole Bull's ambitions of a perfect community* Oleanna , a play named after the folk song, written by David Mamet...
in March 2011.
Cover versions
Like many of Cohen's songs, "Everybody Knows" has been covered by several artists- Concrete BlondeConcrete BlondeConcrete Blonde is an alternative rock band based in the United States. They were initially active from 1982 to 1995, and again from 2001 to 2004, and once again in 2010.-Biography:...
, in the film Pump Up the VolumePump Up the Volume (film)Pump Up the Volume is a 1990 comedy-drama film written and directed by Allan Moyle and starring Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis.- Plot summary :...
(1990), the TV series Dirty Sexy MoneyDirty Sexy MoneyDirty Sexy Money is an American prime time drama series created by Craig Wright, which ran on the ABC from September 26, 2007 to August 8, 2009. The series was produced by ABC Studios, Bad Hat Harry Productions, Berlanti Television and Gross Entertainment...
at the end of the third episode of the first season, and on their compilation album Still in HollywoodStill in HollywoodStill in Hollywood is a collection of unreleased material, live tracks and cover songs from alternative rock band Concrete Blonde.-Track listing:# It'll Chew You Up and Spit You Out...
(1994) - As "Alle vet jo det", by Kari BremnesKari BremnesKari Bremnes is a Norwegian singer and songwriter.She got an M.A. in language, literature , history and theater studies from the University of Oslo, and worked as a journalist for several years before deciding to dedicate herself to music full time.In 1987 she received the Spellemannprisen for the...
, on Cohen på norsk (Cohen in Norwegian, 1993) - Don HenleyDon HenleyDonald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...
, on Actual Miles: Henley's Greatest HitsActual Miles: Henley's Greatest HitsActual Miles: Henley's Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by American singer/songwriter Don Henley, released in 1995. The album was the first compilation album released by Henley and it covered hits from all three of his solo albums throughout the 1980s. The album features three new songs, "The...
(1995) and the tribute album Tower of SongTower of SongTower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen is a tribute album to Leonard Cohen, released in 1995 on A&M Records. It takes its name of a song by Cohen, that has been covered by Marianne Faithfull, Robert Forster, Peter Gabriel, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Martha Wainwright...
(1995) - Washington SquaresWashington SquaresThe Washington Squares were a 1980s neo-beatnik folk revival music group. Modeled after early 1960s groups like The Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary, the group was named after New York City's Washington Square Park, emblematic of Greenwich Village...
, on From Greenwich Village: The Complete Washington Squares (1997) - Dayna KurtzDayna KurtzDayna Kurtz is an American singer/songwriter from New Jersey. Her music is described as a blend of Jazz, Folk and Pop. Critic James Reed of the Boston Globe wrote in a review of Beautiful Yesterday that "there's no logical reason why singer-songwriter Dayna Kurtz is not a full-blown...
, on her album Beautiful Yesterday (2004) - Rufus WainwrightRufus WainwrightRufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
, in Lian LunsonLian LunsonLian Lunson is an Australian actress who became an award-winning documentary filmmaker. She has also written a novel.She was born in Ned Kelly Country in Australia.She moved to Los Angeles in 1987 after working as an actress in Australia....
's documentary film Leonard Cohen: I'm Your ManLeonard Cohen: I'm Your ManLeonard Cohen: I'm Your Man is a 2005 film by Lian Lunson about the life and career of Leonard Cohen. It is based on a January 2005 tribute show at the Sydney Opera House titled "Came So Far for Beauty", which was produced by Hal Willner...
(2005) - The DuhksThe DuhksThe Duhks is a band from Winnipeg, Canada.The members play a blend of Canadian soul, gospel, North American folk, Brazilian samba, old time country string band, zydeco, and Irish dance music. Hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba, their music draws heavily on all of the North American musical traditions,...
, on their self-titled debut album The DuhksThe Duhks (album)The Duhks is a studio album by the group The Duhks. It is released under the Sugar Hill Records label.- Track listing :# Death Came a Knockin'# Mists of Down Below# Gene's Machine# Four Blue Walls# The Wagoner's Lad# True Religion# The Magnolia Set...
(2005) - Jean-Claude Toran, on the album A Monster Poet Jean-Claude Toran with Ron Richardson (2004)
- The Unseen Guest on their album Checkpoint (2007)
- Holly Figueroa, on her album Gifts and Burdens (2007) NOTE: This is the version that was featured on the season finale of the third season of DamagesDamages (TV series)Damages is an American television drama series created by the writing and production trio of Daniel Zelman and brothers Glenn and Todd A. Kessler . It is broadcast in the United States on the DirecTV channel Audience Network after originally airing on FX and is produced by the creators' own...
, air date April 19th, 2010, episode name - "The Next One's Gonna Go In Your Throat" - David FordDavid Ford (musician)David James Ford is a British singer-songwriter, currently living in Eastbourne, East Sussex. He first achieved prominence with the indie rock group Easyworld, who released an independent mini-album, ...Better Ways to Self Destruct and two full-length albums on Jive Records before disbanding in...
covered this song live on each date of his January tour (2008) and recorded it as the B-side to the single "I'm Alright Now" - Claus HemplerClaus HemplerClaus Hempler is a Danish singer/songwriter who was the front man in the Danish band Fielfraz from 1990 to 1996.Fielfraz split up in 1996, but Claus Hempler continued to make music, releasing the solo album Charm School for Pop Singers in 1999...
, on the Danish compilation På Danske Læber (on Danish lips), including 15 other Danish covers of Cohen's songs - The Cosa Nostra KlubThe Cosa Nostra KlubThe Cosa Nostra Klub is a French black metal/industrial metal band, founded in Clermont-Ferrand, in 1996 by Mr Hreidmarr and Mr Heinrich Von B...
on their official MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page (2008) - Sharon Robinson herself, on her debut CD of the same title (2008)
- Elizabeth & The CatapultElizabeth & The CatapultElizabeth & The Catapult is a Brooklyn-based artist, consisting of singer-songwriter Elizabeth Ziman. She best known for her 2009 album Taller Children, produced by Mike Mogis and released on Verve Forecast.-History:...
on their album Taller Children - In Innu language as "Tshissenitenanu", by Florent VollantFlorent VollantFlorent Vollant is a Canadian singer-songwriter. An Innu from Maliotenam, Quebec, he was half of the popular folk music duo Kashtin, one of the most important musical groups in First Nations history....
, on Katak (2003) - GarouGarouGarou may refer to:* A word from the French "loup-garou", meaning "werewolf"* Garou a French Canadian singer** Garou , the 2006 eponymous album by Garou...
on his album Gentleman cambrioleurGentleman cambrioleurGentleman cambrioleur is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer Garou, and his sixth album overall. This is Garou's first cover album, covering songs from artists such as Jacques Dutronc...
(2009)