I sense I’m in the minority in that I like to listen to music as I fall asleep at night. In fact, I find it difficult to fall asleep if there isn’t music playing - a silent room just seems to breed the sort of brooding over my problems that leads to a night of fitful insomnia. Music seem to draw me into the dreamlike state of imagination that’s a prelude to falling asleep.
Of course, I don’t put on something like Operation Ivy or free jazz. I’m a fan of cheesy easy listening music, so somebody like Jo Stafford or Dean Martin usually fills the bill.
Rather paradoxically, I could never fall asleep watching TV. This may have something to do with not having cable for the last 7 years, but I find TV to so overstimulate my senses that I’ll stay awake well past my bedtime if I indulge in watching late at night. Yet I know other people who routinely lull themselves to sleep in front of the tube.
Anyone want to speculate on what accounts for these differences?
I had insomnia for years, so I used to listen to the BBC World Service (or Radio 4 - both are current affairs talk radio). Now, I find it’s a good aide dormir, and I find it difficult to sleep without it on.
Music playing, however softly, keeps me awake (probably cos I always used a radio as my wake up alarm, and not a shrill tone or bell alarm)…so if I hear music (as opposed to dogs barking, F111s passing over head, car alarms, etc), I’m awake like a shot…
I once travelled in a van, road trip sort of thing, with a person who couldn’t sleep without music, and since it was her van, and she was driving, she left the radio on all night…absolute hell!
Call me crazy, but I listen to music both to fall asleep and to wake up. I use the “sleep” function of my alarm clock and also set the alarm to music and/or Howard Stern.
As far as genre, anything I would normally listen to is fine. I don’t need anything soothing. I’ve fallen asleep to Metallica.
Call me crazy, but I listen to music both to fall asleep and to wake up. I use the “sleep” function of my alarm clock and also set the alarm to music and/or Howard Stern.
As far as genre, anything I would normally listen to is fine. I don’t need anything soothing. I’ve fallen asleep to Metallica.
gonzoron, I do the same thing. I usually listen to the music I have on my computer or in my CD player to fall asleep to at night, then use the radio (morning talk show) to wake up in the morning.
I have found that I fall asleep quickly if I listen to classical music, but I’ll end up staying awake and kind of sing along with lyrics.
Get yourself a pair of cheap but reasonably good sounding cones. The rounder and cushier they are, the better.
invest in a nice big fluffy soft down pillow
Fall asleep listening to your favorite songs, wake up wondering what happened.
Music can be a fantastic dream stimulator, and it definitely helps me sleep better. I use headphones because, even though they’re awkward at first when your head is lying down, the music feels contained within your head.
I like to play music on my bedroom hi-fi system last thing at night, so I inevitably end up falling to sleep to music ocasionally, but usually I fall asleep just after the cd ends.
I always listen to music as I fall asleep. That way, I don’t have to listen to the shit that’s going on inside my head*, which usually will keep me up long, long hours. Nothing too hard, nothing too soft, but there’s a wide middle section that is dandy.
*-I actually find Lewis Black to be very calming while I’m trying to sleep. I’m sure that’s a sign of serious mental and emotional problems.
I love falling asleep to music, exactly the way criminalcatalog described. Pair of Sennheisers, nice big pillow and there you go. Did it last night to Windy & Carl’s “Consciousness” but my usual cd for falling asleep is something like Miles Davis’ “In a Silent Way”
I should mention that I recently bought one of these: pillow speaker, that sits under my pillow beaming soothing voices into my ear. Until last month I had no idea that such a thing existed.
I may be eccentric, but at least I’m a demographic!
I could never fall asleep with headphones on. I listen with them at work and sometimes I have to take them off. If I need to concentrate on something, they just demand too much attention. It’s great if you’re just listening to music.
I have the hardest time falling asleep without music…anything though will work for me. Sometimes I fall asleep to Bjork, other days to GYBE and others to NIN…
To up the freakiness, I also continuously turn my head from side to side (for hours, even after falling asleep), and sleep without a pillow…drives my SO up the wall but hey it makes me asleep a lot faster. (friends have tried it and said it gave the biggest headache ever - it doesn’t bother me at all).
I also prefer to hear music as I drift off because I need something else to focus on besides my own thoughts. Philip Glass, Julee Cruise and Slowdive are personal favourites for this sort of thing. I also used to listen to BBC World Service like jjim, but it led to some pretty unpleasant sleep-disturbing dreams on occasion so I stopped it.