Everybody's Fool
-Located on the album(s): "Fallen Promotional LP" as Track #2; "Mystary EP" as Track #4; "Fallen LP" as Track #3
-BMI Work #6389446
-Length Time: 2:41 (v1 2001 - 2002 Demo); 3:02 (v2 2001 - 2002 Demo); 3:17 (Mystary EP); 3:15 (Fallen LP)
-Acoustic Version Available? [YES] - See: Acoustic in Washington DC 07-24-04.
-Live Version Available? [YES] - See: Live @ Pink Pop Festival 2003.
-Acapella Version Available? [YES] - See: Rock Band Multitracks
-Instrumental Version Available? [YES] - See: Everybody's Fool Single
Lyrics:
Everybody's Fool - v1 2001 - 2002 DemoThis one begins with a heavy guitar with sound effects in the background.0:00 - 0:10
Perfect by nature
Icons of self indulgence
Just what we all need
More lies about a world that
Never was and never will be
Have you no shame don’t you see me
You know you’ve got everybody fooled
0:46 - 0:50
Look here she comes now
Bow down and stare in wonder
Oh how we love you
Too bad we didn’t know she
Never was and never will be
You don’t know how you’ve betrayed me
And somehow you’ve got everybody fooled
1:26 - 1:41
“The dynamic of symmetrical social riot
Can be summoned together in broad statements (
statement)
That what has become blueprint for all
And all have been reduced to the space of one”
Never was and never will be
You don’t know how you’ve betrayed me
And somehow you’ve got everybody fooled
Never was and never will be
You’re not real and you can’t save me
And somehow now your everybody’s fool
2:26 - 2:41
Song:
Everybody's Fool - v2 2001 - 2002 DemoThis begins as the same as the first demo, only the music is a little lower.0:00 - 0:10
Perfect by nature
Icons of self indulgence
Just what we all need
More lies about a world that
Never was and never will be
Have you no shame don’t you see me
You know you’ve got everybody fooled
0:45 - 0:50
Look here she comes now
Bow down and stare in wonder
Oh how we love you
Too bad we didn’t know she
Never was and never will be
You don’t know how you’ve betrayed me
And somehow you’ve got everybody fooled
1:26 - 1:41
“The dynamic of symmetrical social riot
Can be summoned together in broad statements (
statement)
That what has become blueprint for all
And all have been reduced to the space of one”
I know the truth now
I know who you are
And I don’t love you anymore
It never was and never will be
You don’t know how you’ve betrayed me
And somehow you’ve got everybody fooled
Never was and never will be
You’re not real and you can’t save me
And somehow now your everybody’s fool
2:41 - 3:02
Song:
Everybody's Fool - Mystary & Fallen VersionThis version starts with an acoustic guitar, then it turns into a semi-heavy guitar.0:00 – 0:25
Perfect by nature
Icons of self indulgence
Just what we all need
More lies about a world that
Never was and never will be
Have you no shame don’t you see me
You know you’ve got everybody fooled
1:01 – 1:05
Look here she comes now
Bow down and stare in wonder
Oh how we love you
No flaws when you’re pretending
But now I know she
Never was and never will be
You don’t know how you’ve betrayed me
And somehow you’ve get everybody fooled
Without the mask where will you hide
Can’t find yourself lost in your lie
I know the truth now
I know who you are
And I don’t love you anymore
It never was and never will be
You don’t know how you’ve betrayed me
And somehow now you’ve everybody fool
Never was and never will be
You’re not real and you can’t save me
And somehow now you’re everybody’s fool
2:56 – 3:13
Song:
The MUSIC VIDEO:
Some Things To Think About/Debate Over
-This song was played live and put on the "Anywhere But Home Live CD" as Track #4 (3:40). [Zenith, Paris 2004]
Song:
-The Everybody's Fool Single was released on June 8th, 2004. The tracklisting is the following:
(1) - Everybody's Fool (Fallen)
(2) - Taking Over Me (Live in Cologne 10-17-03)
(3) - Whisper (Live in Cologne 10-17-03)
(4) - Everybody's Fool (Instrumental)
-On bootlegs, the second demo (v2) of the 2001 - 2002 Demos is usually called "Never Was, Never Will Be." It is an EvRumor that this was a working title for the song.
-The person who states that little "dynamic of social . . . " quote in the demos is Ben (DoubleA and I have discussed this before, since I originally thought it was David). For a long while, the EvCommunity had no idea what was being said.
About "Everybody's Fool" demos, that's exactly it: "The dynamic of symmetrical social riots can be summed together in broad statements, that what has become blueprint for all, and all have been reduced to the space of one". I didn't figure it out until I read it here, but that's it.
-During the Fallen tour, this song was usually after "Taking Over Me," but before "My Last Breath." Later concerts have it played before "Thoughtless," a cover.
-On the Mystary EP, this track has one skip in the beginning (0:01).
-Amy Lee on "Everybody's Fool":
"My little sister was really getting into these, I don't want to offend anyone, but like really fake, cheesy, slutty female cracker-box idols, and it really pissed me off," Lee said. "She started dressing like them and she was like 8 years old. So I gave her the talk and I wrote a song."
"It's kind of about exposing that it's fake," she said. "And the video's more along the lines of exposing the real behind-the-scenes [lives] of some of these people. It's basically showing the glamorous lifestyle and the depressed, selfish misery behind it.
"It's like beating a dead horse at this point, but at the time Britney Spears was just coming out," Lee continued. "But I still think it's relevant."
SOURCE She wrote the song five years ago for her younger sister.
"At this point, everybody knows that Britney is fake," Lee says. "The song is not about Britney Spears; it's about a lot of people in this industry. It's so fake, the whole Hollywood thing. 'Look at how perfect I am!' Nobody looks like that. It's all fake and it's really hurting a lot of girls' and women's self images. Where are all the normal people?"
SOURCE^Notice that this means Everybody's Fool was written sometime in (early?) 1999.
-Quote taken from Playing Evanescence Interview 2003: [Ben talks, (Amy talks)]
Interviewer: An icon of self-indulgence?
"Well . . . it's the, it's a rock star, a pop star, I guess would be the thing uh, uhm (I was really inspired to, to make a song about someone like that because, I have um two little sisters, and at the time they were a lot younger like seven, eight years old I think, maybe-maybe a little older than that but anyway, um one of them especially was really into like, you know, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and all these people. And it just frustrated me, because I feel like a lot of these kind of - and this is before, this is a while ago, I guess the song is like four years old maybe. But um, they're icons. I mean, like it's an icon it's like a thing that you just end up worshiping. And then if you really look into it, like who are they really - you don't know. And um, I guess that's what it was, was instead of faking a personality and making them feel like, you know like it just frustrated me. Because, because it looked like, um I dunno, how can I explain this while I'm speaking too much?) Um, no it's just uh or at least my idea behind it was just um, that's they represent like me-self, like I'm going to focus on me like it's about (right), you know my body and, and and exploiting my self and my Pepsi endorsement, and my - you know what I mean? (Exactly). That sort of thing, and it's like and it is something to worship and it's like this, you know, image (me, me, me, I, I, I - it's not about anything important so) and they do it better than anyone else."
-This explanation was apparently translated from French, so I will post the original translation and my "interpretation" of it:
(Original): "I have written "Everybody's Fool" from the perspective on my sister, who, later realized that, their idol of it had toutless words. As all the Britney pop-stars seemed a jeanue perfect girl. The small ones saw natural flower where others see plastic."
(Fixed): "I had written "Everybody's Fool" from the perspective of my sister, who, later realized that her idolization was thoughtless. Like all the "Britney" pop-stars, they seemed to be genuinely-perfect girls. Some young girls see a natural flower, but others see plastic."
-The Everybody's Fool Music Video was directed by Philipp Stölzl and filmed in mid-April 2004 at Los Angeles, USA. Originally, it had three alternative video intros before the one that we know of was chosen:
in may 2004 i received a call from video director philipp stölzl, who asked me if i could do some additional music for the next evanescence video “everybody’s fool”.
in the clip, singer amy lee performes in various fake tv-commercials.
for the “lies” pizza spot he wanted me to create some tacky background music in an fifties style, like “murder at the gallop” or “leave it to beaver”.
i did three versions for him, which unfortunately were all later rejected. i kinda like all three of them, they’re probably a little more charming than the music that was later used (which had its emphasis more on the “irony” aspect).
have fun listening...
SOURCEINTRO 1:
INTRO 2:
INTRO 3:
-According to EvReference and the linear notes to Fallen, the Millennium Choir performed background vocals for the song.
SOURCE-According to Music Notes:
(1) Everybody's Fool is written in F Major.
(2) It is set in a time signature of common time and performed in a tempo of 92 beats per minute.
(3) Amy Lee's vocals range from A3 to the note of D5.
SOURCE-The Music Video was #13 on Rolling Stone's Top 2004 Videos.
-Terry Balsamo makes his first appearance in this music video; Ben Moody, despite being on the cover of the single, is not in the music video, since he had left Evanescence by the time the single was released.
-This was the only Fallen Single not to have a German 3" (Pock-It!®) CD Single version as well.
-EvReference also makes the claim that due to (EvRumor) Wind-Up ignoring Amy's desire to release Imaginary as a single, and instead made Everybody's Fool the next one, it "affected the promotion of the single." EF debuted at #23 on the charts.
SOURCE-Amy Lee on the Everybody's Fool Video:
"There's this one scene with everybody on motorbikes that every time I see it I just crack up," Lee said. "It's the slow-mo scene where I take off the helmet and swoosh my hair and look at the camera ... and it kills me. It's so hilarious, it's ridiculous.
"It's a really different thing for us to do because it's not performance at all," she continued. "Everybody was laughing at me the whole time. I was just like, 'Please don't laugh at me. Just give me five minutes so I can do this.' "
The message of the video, which also shows Lee on the verge of tears and breaking a mirror, is in the name of the products her character is pitching: "Lies." "That whole life is a lie," Lee said. "Every smile, that's a lie."
SOURCE-More on the Everybody's Fool Music Video:
When the video for Evanescence's fourth single, "Everybody's Fool," surfaces in a couple of weeks, fans will get to see Amy Lee like never before. Instead of her homemade wings and signature gothic garb, the clip finds Lee dressed alternately as a wholesome teenager, a kitschy pop idol and a softly lit glamazon.
Keeping in step with the song's lyrics — which rail against idealistic, media-constructed images — the clip comments on the correlation between a phony facade and corroded self-esteem. Before the music begins, Lee — decked out in blond curls, a baby-blue blouse and a long white skirt — emerges from the kitchen holding a fresh-from-the-oven frozen pizza, in a mock TV commercial. She presents the pizza to her family and, as the camera zooms in for a close-up, we see the brand name on the pizza box: Lies.
"There is nothing better than a good lie," Lee says cheerily, through a glistening smile, her head cocked slightly to one side.
Then rolling acoustic guitar and billowing synthesizers pave the way for the harsh power chords that open the song. Lee is now back in her dimly lit hotel room, removing her pancake makeup, while her disembodied voice resonates in the background: "Perfect by nature/ Icons of self-indulgence/ Just what we all need/ More lies about a world that/ Never was and never will be."
SOURCE-As per EvReference: Chart (2004) Peak Position
Australia (ARIA) 23
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 35
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia) 3
Ireland (IRMA) 32
Italy (FIMI) 16
Italy (Singles Chart) 96
Norway (VG-lista) 17
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 35
The Netherlands (Top 40) 31
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 24
US Alternative Songs (Billboard) 36
SOURCE-A "funny" song meaning as posted by Ben Moody:
Everybody's Fool:
Amy is soooo totally jealous that Ben is such a pop star and she pales in his shadow
-Some people didn't understand the satirical message Everybody's Fool was suppose represent:
Second, on the the similarities of Everybody's Fool to Brittany "Look at me and don't pay attention to the fact I can't sing" Spears' video, it's meant as a parody of the image put forth of said "singer." A perfect example of which would be Weird Al Yankovick's videos. If you were to play on of his videos to one he's copying, You would notice the obvious similarities. But while his videos poke fun at the original video, Everybody's Fool instead highlights the false and artificial images the original videos have in them( notice all the products called ""Lies.") It's not meant to be humorous, but to show how sad it all really is.
P.S.
By the way, it also parodies Brittany's Pepsi commercial
-The EARLIEST version of Everybody's Fool, played live, that we know of is Live @ the TNT Powerhouse, Arkansas on Feb. 03, 2001. This has not been released yet. It was Track #3.
-Josh Freese played drums on this song; Francesco DiCosmo played bass.
-What the two girls say in the Everybody's Fool Music Video:
Girl #1: [
Giggles] Oh my god! Look! [
Points to Amy]
Girl #2: No!?
Girl #1: It is definitely her.
Girl #2: I think that is her.
Girl #1: Definitely.
Girl #2: Ask her.
[
Walks towards Amy]
Girl #2: Excuse me! [
Giggles] Are you who I think you are?
[
Amy shakes her head]
YES!
Girl #1: It's TOTALLY her!
Girl #1/#2: She looks so much older than I thought she would!
[
They both laugh]
Note it is impossible to determine who says "She looks so much older than I thought she would!" since the camera is on Girl #2 when the statement is being made and her mouth is NOT moving, but we pan right back to Girl #1 at the end of the statement to begin her cackle, which would mean she ALSO wasn't saying it since she cannot cackle loudly until the statement is finished. Um . . . messy editing? Also, notice that Girl #2 asks Girl #1 to ask if Amy is, indeed, Amy and yet Girl #2 is the one that does the asking anyways.
-According to the NMEtv interview, the Everybody's Fool Music Video is the least favorite of Amy Lee:
Hey we're back we're answering questions and counting down your Top 5 Evanescence videos. For number four you guys have Everybody's Fool. This video is probably my least favorite of all of our videos because it's really silly. It was actually really, really fun to make though because we were having a lot of fun. Uh, we got to put on motorcycle outfits, and pink wigs, and jump on a trampolines and have a doll-Japanese thing made of myself, so that was very cool. Uh, check it out here is Everybody's Fool.
SOURCE @ 3:13-There was a fascinating EvRumor in 2004 that this song was really anti-Catholic criticism - "perfect by nature, icons of self-indulgence" was apparently a Protestant reference to the Catholic "worship" of Mary. Ultimately the unveiling of the "lies" was apparently the revelation of Catholics as Biblical "deceivers" or what have you. Such colorful imagination some Evanescence fans have!
REVIEWS:
Adrien Begrand of Pop Matters:
Meanwhile, “Everybody’s Fool” . . . take things to a more over-the-top, theatrical level.
SOURCEScott Juba of The Trades
As far as the band’s single, “Everybody’s Fool”, is concerned, it is a song about the stinging betrayal of deception and the refusal to become blinded by deceit any longer. There is a defiance in Lee’s voice that gives the track a bold edge, and the song’s heavy drums and soaring guitars further enhance the strong sound. The band surely has another chart topping hit on their hands.
Partly because of Lee’s vocal talent, and partly because of their songs’ uncompromising lyrics, Evanescence brings an undeniably distinctive sound to their music. It no secret why they have become one of the hottest bands in rock music.
Overall Grade: A
SOURCESimon Cusens of Splatt Review:
3 out of 5
When I heard this song I: I turned the volume down
If you like Evanescence you'll love this.
If this song was a piece of clothing it would be a: leather jacket
If this song was an animal it would be: tiger
Most likely to be heard on: the radio
My overall verdict: It is a cold, sad and angry song that I would only like to listen to once.
"Everybody's Food", a single by Evanescence, is completely different from another or their songs, "My Immortal" which is a much softer song in which the singer's voice is clear and easy to listen to.
In "Everybody's Fool" the song is noisy with loud band music and the singer shouting the words. This makes it hard to understand all the words and know what the song is all about. It is a cold, sad and angry song that I would only like to listen to without it being repeated again.
I feel that this song may grown on a person and would be liked by an older age group such as 17+.
SOURCEJohnny Loftus of All Music:
"[W]hen the guitars do show up (like on "Everybody's Fool"), Lee matches their power easily."
SOURCERuss Breimeier of Christianity Today:
"[O]ne wonders if "Everybody's Fool" is an indictment of the church and the Christian faith: "Perfect by nature, icons of self-indulgence/Just what we all need/More lies about a world that never was and never will be … You're not real and you can't save me."
SOURCETHANKS to DoubleA for the lyrics and the videos are from FallenEvArmy, EvanescenceVEVO, and Lauro Salem Pessato!