Song of the Day 5/12: Leonard Cohen, “Everybody Knows”

I assume everybody knows this Cohen classic, if not from his 1988 album “I’m Your Man,” then from its plentiful covers and frequent use in movies and TV soundtracks. But El Somnambulo quoted it to conclude today’s open thread, so you can use this as a soundtrack.

The song was Cohen’s first of many collaborations with Sharon Robinson, whom Cohen met when she sang backup on his 1979 tour. She told Uncut,

“Leonard had most of the lyric done when he handed it to me. … It’s a protest song, so Leonard wanted something tough. … There are synths on the record as he likes the contrast with that very organic-sounding, deep, human voice of his. I tried to match the tone of the lyric with music I knew Leonard could sing, and want to. Leonard always says he has a three-note range, and those limitations on the melody and the importance of words, make you look for music that’s going to propel a lyric forward and give the listener time to digest all its layers. That simplicity leads to something wonderful.”

Robinson made it the title track on her own debut solo LP, released in 2008.

The first prominent cover was by Johnette Napolitano and Concrete Blonde, who added reverb-heavy guitar and took the song to No. 20 on the modern rock chart.

Back in the ’90s, movies tended to use Cohen’s original, but more recent projects lean toward covers. I’ll spare you Don Henley’s overwrought take in favor of the version by Norwegian singer Sigrid that introduced the song to a younger generation via the 2017 Justice League movie.