I try to keep things as positive as possible here at Catholics Against Militarism but sometimes, on some days, you just look around at what is happening in this country, what appears to be a slow and steady march into the warm and willing arms of “safety”/tyranny, the collective denial, the moral confusion, the patriotic pride, the pervasive propaganda, the “divide and conquer” strategy of our rulers, the bread, the circuses, the false promise of the Presidential election — you look at all of this and you just want to say: “Everybody knows.” Because no matter what the lip-glossed news anchors of the corporate media want you to believe and no matter what those calm and rational press secretaries say, deep down, I have to believe that: everybody knows! I believe that the sooner we stop putting our hope in systems that are ruled by Mammon — like the American political system, and the sooner we stop worshiping sacred cows — like the American military — the better.
This one goes out to President Bush, President Obama, and all of the Presidential candidates: Everybody knows, including you.
Leonard Cohen’s bitterly pessimistic song is about the state of the world in the late 1980s. When he first introduced the song, he said, “Here’s a terrible new song. Yes, it embodies all my darkest thoughts. Here it comes.” Cohen said in an interview, “The plague in the most physical sense is AIDS. But there’s another kind of plague going on too, of which AIDS is one of the symptoms. If indeed disease does have ultimately a psychic origin, then there’s a plague of alienation and separation and lassitude and panic; a sense of not being in control.”
Everybody knows that 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 knowsEverybody 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 knowsEverybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you’ve been faithful
Ah, 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
And everybody knowsEverybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes
Everybody knowsEverybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes
Everybody knowsAnd everybody knows that it’s now or never
Everybody knows that it’s me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah, 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 knowsAnd everybody knows that the Plague is coming
Everybody knows that it’s moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are 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 knowsAnd 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 of Malibu
Everybody knows it’s coming apart
Take one last look at this Sacred Heart
Before it blows
And everybody knowsEverybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes
Everybody knowsEverybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes
Everybody knowsEverybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes
Everybody knowsEverybody knows
–Leonard Cohen
