[Spoken Intro: Leonard Cohen]
(Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton
For your ribbons and bows)
[Verse 1: Leonard Cohen]
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
[Verse 2: Leonard Cohen]
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
[Verse 3: Leonard Cohen, All]
Everybody knows that you love me, baby
Everybody knows you really do
Everybody knows you've been faithful
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
Everybody knows
[Chorus: All]
Everybody knows
Everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows
Everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
[Verse 4: Leonard Cohen, All]
Everybody knows that it's now or never
Everybody knows it's me or you
Everybody knows that you live forever
When you've done a little line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton
For your ribbons and bows
Everybody knows
[Verse 5: Leonard Cohen, All]
Everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows it's moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But there's going to be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows
[Verse 6: Leonard Cohen, All]
Everybody knows you're in trouble
Everybody knows what you've been through
From the bloody cross on top of Calvary
To the beach at Malibu
Everybody knows it's comin' apart
Take one last look at this Sacred Heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows
[Chorus: All]
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
[Spoken]
(Bob Metzger on the pedal steel)
(I wrote that song a long time ago with Sharon Robinson
More recently we, we wrote this one.)