# Please recommend musicians similar to Leonard Cohen. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919 "2014-01-16T00:25:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/1 "2014-01-16T00:25:52Z")
I really enjoy Leonard Cohen’s music, especially his most recent albums from Dear Heather to Old Ideas. I would like some recommendations on songs or musicians with a similar style, especially those similar to the newest albums. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/2 "2014-01-16T00:37:20Z")
May not be even close: Tom Waits? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/3 "2014-01-16T00:45:19Z")
This is a guess, but Joseph Arthur Have you tried last.fm or pandora to get a better idea of similar bands? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/4 "2014-01-16T01:11:07Z")
Nick Cave, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/5 "2014-01-16T01:33:52Z")
Nick Drake John Martyn ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/6 "2014-01-16T01:43:44Z")
Loudon Wainwright III ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/7 "2014-01-16T02:34:45Z")
Nick Cave could work if you pick the right albums. “The Boatman’s Call” or “No More Shall We Part” might be good. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/8 "2014-01-16T02:38:00Z")
[Adam Cohen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Cohen_(musician)), at least his most recent album. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/9 "2014-01-16T02:51:28Z")
Bill Callahan might work. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/10 "2014-01-16T03:23:48Z")
Two that kind of remind me of old man Cohen: old man [Cash](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McV7pjwVFbE), and old man [Jones](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWiPFT0v2c). Note that Tom Jones is singing a Cohen song, but in both cases, you’ve got a male singer with a deep, resonant voice tempered with decades of wisdom, singing weary, sad, old-man songs. I love 'em all. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/11 "2014-01-16T03:43:16Z")
Anyone from this [tribute album](http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/dublin.html), perhaps. I don’t know if Jens Lekman is really comparable but I like him. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/12 "2014-01-16T05:09:30Z")
Leonard Cohen’s a musician? Next thing you’ll tell me is that he’s a singer. 😉 Intro’d via Noel Harrison’s _Suzanne,_ which I think he sang on _The Girl From UNCLE._ Then read some of his poetry because he wrote _Suzanne._ Then I met my own Suzanne, who was also my Marianne. Then I discovered his early albums and they became Depression Music. I wanted to start a thread discussing Cohen and what happens when a good, modern poet throws caution to the wind and gives meter and rhyme a try. Besides those mentioned I’d also go with Bob Dylan, ca 1966, because that woman was also my Johanna. And maybe Jacques Brel. Nick Cave’s good, but I don’t play him at the same times I play Cohen because I only have _Murder Ballads._ ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/13 "2014-01-16T19:51:04Z")
I’ll throw in a recommendation for the Tindersticks. Though they often sound more grandiose than Cohen’s sparse arrangements, the mood and themes are similar (and they are simply a fantastic band). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/14 "2014-01-16T21:21:09Z")
Tom Paxton is similar, but not so dark. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/15 "2014-01-16T22:03:07Z")
In terms of voice or style? For gravelly voice, talented songwriters, you could try Bill Morrissey, Chris Smither, Jack Hardy, Greg Brown, and maybe Joe Pug or Townes Van Zandt. If you’re looking for Cohen’s blend of urbane bleak despair, I agree that Loudon Wainwright III is a good pick. And maybe Richard Thompson. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/16 "2014-01-16T22:21:30Z")
I love James McMurtry for his lyrics, his humor and his, well, [del]cranky[/del] than than entirely sweet persona. When he was writing this one, he told his band, who were impatient for him to finish, that it was a Leonard Coen(ish) song. Check out [You’d a’ Thought (Leonard Cohen Must Die)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbBITtmFN34). ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/17 "2014-01-16T22:59:52Z")
Slight but thoroughly worthwhile diversion: have you heard these two magnificent covers of Cohen songs? Jeff Buckley singing ‘Hallelujah’ Sir Tom Jones singing ‘Tower of Song’ ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-musicians-similar-to-leonard-cohen/678919/18 "2014-01-17T01:34:07Z")
Lou Reed, Scott Walker Neither are stylistically exactly like him, but both have their similarities.