Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen is a tribute album to Leonard Cohen, released in 1995 on A&M Records. It takes its name from a song by Cohen which originally appeared on Cohen's album I'm Your Man. However the song "Tower of Song" does not actually appear on this tribute album.
Unlike the 1991 Cohen tribute album I'm Your Fan, that was recorded by a lineup of alternative rock groups like The House of Love and the Pixies, Tower of Song featured relatively well-known, mainstream artists like Elton John, Sting with The Chieftains, Billy Joel, Peter Gabriel and Bono of U2.
The album received a negative review from critic Roch Parisien at Allmusic who called the album "a total train wreck." However, this view was not shared by Cohen himself who discussed his generally positive view of the album with Chris Douridas at KCRW Radio Station, citing his personal preference for Billy Joel's version of "Light As the Breeze" over his own version.
well my friends are gone and my hair is grey
i ache in the places where i used to play
and i'm crazy for love but i'm not coming on
i'm just paying my rent every day
oh in the tower of song
i said to hank williams: how lonely does it get?
hank williams hasn't answered yet
but i hear him coughing all night long
a hundred floors above me
in the tower of song
i was born like this, i had no choice
i was born with the gift of a golden voice
and twenty-seven angels from the great beyond
they tied me to this table right here
in the tower of song
so you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
i'm very sorry, baby, doesn't look like me at all
i'm standing by the window where the light is strong
ah they don't let a woman kill you
not in the tower of song
now you can say that i've grown bitter but of this you may be sure
the rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
and there's a mighty judgement coming, but i may be wrong
you see, you hear these funny voices
in the tower of song
i see you standing on the other side
i don't know how the river got so wide
i loved you baby, way back when
and all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed
but i feel so close to everything that we lost
we'll never have to lose it again
now i bid you farewell, i don't know when i'll be back
there moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
but you'll be hearing from me baby, long after i'm gone
i'll be speaking to you sweetly
from a window in the tower of song
yeah my friends are gone and my hair is grey
i ache in the places where i used to play
and i'm crazy for love but i'm not coming on
i'm just paying my rent every day
oh in the tower of song