Everybody Knows
Adele said she has always been fascinated by – and unafraid of – death. This is her beautifully rendered lyrical take on that concept. I came up with the main guitar lick as kind of a bluegrass kind of thing. She said to slow it down and turn it into a Pink Floyd-ish kind of thing. We put it all together at a Cub Scout campout in Eastern NC (cue the smell of turkey poop!).
This is the Turntable Graveyard band playing live in our basement in 2016. The idea was to take this recording and overdub better vocals and guitar parts, but that hasn’t happened yet. Mad props to Gordon on the piano solo.
Lyrics
I know—everybody knows
I know—that’s just the way it goes
Like a body bloody, lying in the street
You can’t turn your head away
Broken glass and shattered, scattered bones and teeth
Shining diamonds where they lay
A fortune left to fate
But I know—that’s just the way it goes
I know—everybody knows
Sweetness at your lips, underneath your fingertips, you
Can’t feel a thing even if you try
Your life takes the shape of one long sad mistake
You can’t change and you don’t know why
You never wanted to learn
To fly
I know—we’re all afraid to go
Breathing on the coals, the fire smolders
You forfeit everything that’s left
In ashes cold the weight slips off your shoulders
Stand up straight and take a breath
Open up your arms and welcome death
They say—life is just a dream
Look up—maybe you can see
How your life is spent
Sleeping—the dreamer and the dreamt
Bring me—back from the dead
Let me rise up to the singing in my head