# Good Music To Fall Asleep To **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892 "2003-06-01T04:01:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/21 "2003-06-01T22:57:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gex gex \* > \*\*Not me! I always find that if I put it on late at night, _How to Disappear Completely_ and _Treefingers_ will put me in a beautiful trance before I’m rudely jerked back to the world of the awake by the opening riff of _Optimistic_. It’s the musical equivalent of a bucket of cold water being tipped over your head. \*\* Well, that is somewhat true. But then I either just fall back asleep or I angrily turn the CD off and then…fall back asleep. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/22 "2003-06-02T02:03:46Z")
Russian Orthodox choral music does it for me. Rachmaninoff’s Vespers (All-Night Vigil) performed by the Robert Shaw Festival Singers. _Sacred Treasures: Choral Masterworks from Russia_ from Hearts Of Space Records. A collection of choral works by several composers including:Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, and several others I’m not familiar with. ---
**Author:** ![TisDun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@TisDun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TisDun)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/23 "2003-06-02T02:18:59Z")
Listen to me with trust…Astral Weeks by Van Morrison, the all time best bed time tunes, especially if love is in the air. If on your own, I recommend some classical compilations not yet mentioned, Mozart’s and Bach’s Adagio’s. May you count few sheep. ---
**Author:** ![TisDun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@TisDun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TisDun)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/24 "2003-06-02T02:22:08Z")
Listen to me with trust…Astral Weeks (cd, not song) by Van Morrison, the all time best bed time tunes, especially if love is in the air. If on your own, I recommend some classical compilations not yet mentioned, Mozart’s and Bach’s Adagios. May you count few sheep. ---
**Author:** ![Trancey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Trancey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancey)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/25 "2003-06-02T03:20:28Z")
Ani Difranco Anathema (the newer albums) Those are my picks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/26 "2003-06-02T03:29:25Z")
Despite being a big music fan, I can’t really sleep properly with music playing unless I’m reaaaaally tired to begin with. If I’m trying to blot out even worse background noise, I find I can doze to Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue, or late Beethoven string quartets. Music for Airports is also good. ---
**Author:** ![Gopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gopher)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/27 "2003-06-02T04:58:22Z")
Vienna Teng- Lullaby for a Storm Yeah…since it is called a lullaby ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/28 "2003-06-02T07:25:15Z")
Music without lyrics is generally best. I sometimes use the Sonic Youth SYR albumes. But don’t listen to Godspeed You Black Emperor unless you want nightmares. Also, I prefer Amnesiac over Kid A if I’m trying to go to sleep. Less jarring. ---
**Author:** ![Kinbote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@Kinbote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinbote)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/29 "2003-06-02T10:11:18Z")
For about 9 months I had a playlist that I would listen to to fall asleep. Song number 1: _Tom Traubert’s Blues_ by Tom Waits. I couldn’t tell you what the other songs were. 🙂 There’s a bunch of other Tom Waits songs that are good sedatives: _Georgia Lee, 9th and Hennepin, Hold On, Small Change_ to name a few. A good amount of Flaming Lips music could put me to sleep too. _The Soft Bulletin_ would be a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/30 "2003-06-02T10:16:02Z")
I’ll second **Crusoe** ’s Tindersticks suggestion, although they’ve actually made (at least) two self-titled albums. My vote goes for the first one, which has a painting of a flamenco dancer on the front if my memory serves… zzzzzzzz ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/31 "2003-06-02T10:46:23Z")
Massive Attack’s _Protection_ was good for sending me off to sleep. Some very soothing bass rhythms in there. ---
**Author:** ![Israfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/87869e/32.png) [@Israfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Israfel)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/32 "2003-06-02T10:49:06Z")
Tom Newman’s _Faerie Symphony_ album. I was in bed listening to album one night and I starting hallucinating or having lucid dreams or something like that. It was like I was dreaming, but I was still awake and could hear the music. Very weird. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/33 "2003-06-02T13:23:15Z")
My favorite all time relax music is Neil Diamond’s Sondtrack to Jonathan Livingston Seagull The first thing that popped into mind was Steven Hill’s voice. Steven Hill hosts NPR’s "Music from the Hearts of Space. I can’t say as his vioce is monotonous or boring as it isn’t, but he dosn’t come from the fast lane if you know what I mean. The music he plays afterward is uniquely relaxing as well. Our local station (WGTE 91.3) runs his program at 10-12 om on Sunday nights. Check your local listings. ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/34 "2003-06-02T13:45:54Z")
Peter Gabriel’s _Passion_ is fantastic. It’s the soundtrack to Last Temptation of Christ. ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892/35 "2003-06-02T14:59:21Z")
An Australian jazz group called The Necks are excellent for this. Their songs last for at least 45 minutes and consist of a two-bar phrase played continuously with very subtle changes. The effect is mesmerising. Their one song album “Sex” is currently being used as the bedtime music for my one month old. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-music-to-fall-asleep-to/178892.md?page=1)