The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and presently consists of Cave, violinist and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn P. Casey (all from Australia), guitarist George Vjestica (United Kingdom), keyboardist/percussionist Toby Dammit (United States) and drummers Thomas Wydler (Switzerland) and Jim Sclavunos (United States). The band has released sixteen studio albums and completed numerous international tours, and has been considered "one of the most original and celebrated bands of the post-punk and alternative rock eras in the '80s and onward".
The band was founded in 1983 following the demise of Cave and Harvey's former group the Birthday Party, the members of which met at a boarding school in Victoria. By the release of their fifth studio album Tender Prey in 1988, they shifted from post-punk towards an experimental alternative rock sound, later incorporating various influences throughout their career. For example, the 2008 album Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! and the side-project Grinderman were strongly influenced by garage rock. Synthesizers and minimal guitar work feature prominently on Push the Sky Away (2013), recorded after Harvey's departure from the band in 2009.
The project that would later evolve into Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds began following the demise of The Birthday Party in August 1983. Both Cave and Harvey were members of the Birthday Party, along with guitarist Rowland S. Howard and bassist Tracy Pew. During the recording sessions of the Birthday Party's scheduled EPs Mutiny/The Bad Seed, internal disputes developed in the band. The difference in Cave and Howard's approach to songwriting was a major factor, as Cave explained in an interview with On The Street: "the main reason why The Birthday Party broke up was that the sort of songs that I was writing and the sort of songs that Rowland was writing were just totally at odds with each other." Following the departure of Harvey, they officially disbanded. Cave also said that "it probably would have gone on longer, but Mick has the ability to judge things much more clearly than the rest of us."[8]
Cave and guitarist Kid Congo Powers during the band's 1986 tour.
An embryonic version of what would later become Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds was formed in the Birthday Party's then-home of London in September 1983, with Cave, Harvey (acting primarily as drummer), Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist Bargeld, Magazine bassist Barry Adamson, and Jim G. Thirlwell. The band was initially formed as a backing band for Cave's intended solo project Man Or Myth?, which had been approved by the record label Mute Records. During September and October 1983, they recorded material with producer Flood,[9] although the sessions were cut short due to Cave's touring with the Immaculate Consumptive, another project formed with Thirlwell, Lydia Lunch and Marc Almond.[10] In December 1983 Cave returned to Melbourne, Australia, where he formed a temporary line-up of his backing band, due to Bargeld's absence, that included Pew and guitarist Hugo Race. The band performed their first live show at Seaview in St. Kilda on 31 December 1983.
Following a short Australian tour, and during a period when they were without management, Cave and his band returned to London. Cave, Harvey, Bargeld, Race and Adamson formed the project's first consistent line-up, while Cave's longtime girlfriend Anita Lane was credited as a lyricist on the band's debut album.[citation needed] The group, which up to this time had been nameless, adopted the moniker Nick Cave and the Cavemen, which they used for the first six months of their career. However, they were later renamed Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in May 1984, in reference to the final Birthday Party EP The Bad Seed.[citation needed] They began recording sessions for their debut album in March 1984 at London's Trident Studios and these sessions, together with the abandoned Man Or Myth? sessions from September–October 1983 that were recorded at The Garden studios, formed the album From Her to Eternity, released on Mute Records in 1984.
Tower Of Song
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I ache in the places I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm paying my rent everyday in the Tower of Song
I said to Leonard Cohen: How lonely does it get?
Leonard Cohen hasn't answered me yet
But I can hear him coughing all night long,
I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born like this, with a golden voice
Twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond,
Well they tied me to this table right here in the Tower of Song
You can stick your needles in a voodoo doll
I'm sorry baby, but it don't look like me at all
I'm standing by the window where the light is strong
They don't let a woman kill you in the Tower of Song
I've grown bitter, bitter, of this you may be sure:
The rich, the rich have got channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there's a mighty judgement but it won't be long, but I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices in the Tower of Song - oh yeah -
The guitar, the bass, the drums, so nice every hour in the Tower of Song
I see you standing on the other side
I don't know how the river got so wide
But I loved you, baby, way back when
All the bridges are burning that we might have crossed,
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
But I'll never have to lose you again, Tower of Song
I bid you farewell, I don't know when I'm back
They're moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you'll be hearing from me, baby, long after I'm gone
I'm speaking to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song
Now you can say that I've grown bitter, of this you can be sure:
The rich have got channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there's a mighty judgement but it won't take long, I may be wrong
Tower of Song is a self-referential song about being a songwriter and a prisoner of one's own craft. In the beginning of the song, Nick Cave sings about the loneliness and the physical toll of performing, as he’s grown older. He describes his pain and how everything around him has changed but he still remains imprisoned in the Tower of Song, a metaphor for the world of music that controls him, drains him, but that he also loves. Here he also shows how the artist tends to be isolated as they are locked up in their own mind, and the only escape is through their art.
Throughout the song, the narrative is peppered with beautiful allusions to writers and musicians. He uses Leonard Cohen as a symbol of creative isolation, locked in the same tower, but on a different floor. He also mentions receiving inspiration and guidance from the Great Beyond, and how he was chosen by the universe to have a gift, to be a golden voice. The song takes on a more melancholic note as Cave talks about his lost love and how he feels close to everything that's lost as all the bridges are burning that they might have crossed. But he views music as his salvation, paying his rent everyday in the Tower of Song.
Line by Line Meaning
Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I'm old now and my friends are gone, I have no one to turn to.
I ache in the places I used to play
I have memories of when I was younger and more energetic.
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I want love, but I'm not actively pursuing it.
I'm paying my rent everyday in the Tower of Song
Music is my livelihood, and I am constantly paying my dues to remain a musician.
I said to Leonard Cohen: How lonely does it get?
I had a conversation with Leonard Cohen about loneliness.
Leonard Cohen hasn't answered me yet
I'm still waiting for Leonard Cohen's response.
But I can hear him coughing all night long, A million floors above me in the Tower of Song
I can hear Leonard Cohen in the distance, even though he's far away.
I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with my talents, it wasn't a conscious decision.
I was born like this, with a golden voice
I was born with a unique and special singing voice.
Twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond, Well they tied me to this table right here in the Tower of Song
I feel like I'm trapped and tied to the music industry, unable to escape.
You can stick your needles in a voodoo doll
People can try to bring me down, but they won't succeed.
I'm sorry baby, but it don't look like me at all
I won't let others tear me down or change who I am.
I'm standing by the window where the light is strong
I'm staying true to who I am and being seen for my true self.
They don't let a woman kill you in the Tower of Song
The music industry may be tough, but at least I won't be killed by a woman.
I've grown bitter, bitter, of this you may be sure: The rich, the rich have got channels in the bedrooms of the poor
I'm bitter about the income inequality and the wealthy exploiting the poor.
And there's a mighty judgement but it won't be long, but I may be wrong. You see, you hear these funny voices in the Tower of Song - oh yeah - The guitar, the bass, the drums, so nice every hour in the Tower of Song
There will eventually be a reckoning, but I might not be right about when it'll happen. Being in the music industry is tough, but the instruments make it all worth it.
I see you standing on the other side
I see someone who is not with me, who I long for.
I don't know how the river got so wide
I don't know how we grew apart and became so distant.
But I loved you, baby, way back when
I have fond memories of us together.
All the bridges are burning that we might have crossed, But I feel so close to everything that we lost
The opportunities for us to reconnect are gone, but I still feel emotionally connected.
But I'll never have to lose you again, Tower of Song
I don't have to lose the music, which is a constant in my life.
I bid you farewell, I don't know when I'm back
I'm saying goodbye, not knowing when I'll return.
They're moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
I'm moving on to a new location, but I'll still be in the music industry.
But you'll be hearing from me, baby, long after I'm gone
My music will continue to be heard, even when I'm no longer here.
I'm speaking to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song
I'm still making music, even as I say goodbye and move on from this location.
Now you can say that I've grown bitter, of this you can be sure: The rich have got channels in the bedrooms of the poor, And there's a mighty judgement but it won't take long, I may be wrong
I'm bitter about income inequality, but I may be wrong about when change will come.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Leonard Cohen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@DrSpikeSpiegel
One of the most bizarrely great covers of all time. I love at 1:37 when he says: "I'm sorry baby, but it don't look like me, at all" and the guitar does the "waaah, waaaah, waaaaaah" sound. I love when he names off all the instruments. I love the burp at 3:54. There are so many great moments.
@blooberpuss
This sounds more like the Birthday Party. I love the sloppiness and chaos.
@BaronVonPenguin
Few people here asking if Leonard would like this version. As far as I remember and we are talking 25 years ago here but I do remember reading this was actually Cohen's favourite interpretation on the compilation
@BahramKheradmand
Of course! it is a tour de la tour!
@notyourname4425
Takes me right back to 1991!❤
@rickstreed4896
I love how loose a free this version is. My favorite interpretation for sure.
@lacarolreyesmtz
Descanse en paz, maestro Leonard Cohen.
@ireneeggink1100
sssso nicccce!
@dchrone
Such an excellent version of this song. I hope Leonard approves!
@ErikWeissengruber
He really liked it. Len recorded drunk more than once. See “Always.”