An
Alternative National Anthem
Everybody
knows 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 red rose.
Everybody knows.
Everybody
knows that you love me, baby.
Everybody knows you really do.
Everybody
knows that you've been faithful,
Give or take a time or two.
Everybody
knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without
your clothes.
Everybody knows.
Everybody
knows that it's now or never.
Everybody knows that it's me or you.
And
everybody knows that you live forever
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.
Everybody
knows that the plague is coming.
Everybody knows that 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 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 at 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.
By Leonard Cohen and Sharon
Robinson.
© 1988 CBS Records, Inc.
