Cd's to fall asleep to

February 13, 2025 12:10 PM

I'm looking for music(on CD) to play as I fall asleep.

My anxiety goes crazy at night and I have found that if I play music with words in it, it can help district my brain from the anxiety and allow me to fall asleep.

Currently I've been playing the Cats musical which takes me back to falling asleep listening to tapes when I was a kid. My brain focuses on the lyrics and not whatever scary thing my anxiety picked that night. I'd love to have more variety to listen to and am coming to you all for suggestions.

Last night I tried a bird song and Maori cd and while quiet and pretty, it didn't work as well. I think because my brain didn't have words it could recognize beyond some of the bird names.

Thanks for the help!

posted by Higherfasterforwards to Media & Arts (38 answers total)

Hildegard of Bingen's A Feather on the Breath of God is one of my all time fav sleepy time musics. it's really beautiful.
posted by supermedusa at 12:18 PM on February 13 [3 favorites]

Eno's ambient stuff is pretty good.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 12:24 PM on February 13 [3 favorites]

Pure Moods, I'm being deadass serious.
Enya, A Day Without Rain
Loreena McKennitt, The Book of Secrets
posted by phunniemee at 12:27 PM on February 13 [1 favorite]

For a long time, my go-to album for falling asleep was Isolation, by the artist I/O. It's really muted, slow R&B, and for me really does the trick of turning off my brain. One caveat: there is one up-tempo song on the album, track No. 6, "Piece of Mind," so you just have to make sure that's either deleted from your play queue or at least placed first so you can get it out of the way.
posted by flod at 12:29 PM on February 13

I can fall asleep to Ludovico Einaudi, this and this
posted by waving at 12:35 PM on February 13

In my life, Iron and Wine’s The Creek Drank the Cradle remains unmatched for this purpose.
posted by D.Billy at 12:37 PM on February 13 [1 favorite]

I Hear Music in the Air. Unbelievably relaxing.

And unbelievably expensive too, I'm sorry to say. That must be 3 times what I paid for it.
posted by jamjam at 12:44 PM on February 13 [1 favorite]

Currently I've been playing the Cats musical

I'd try the soundtracks of other musicals then (and things like Disney sountracks...) For something relatively recent, there's Hamilton.

By the way, you specified "on cd" but if you find good music but it's only for download, and you don't have a computer with a cd burner, those are really cheap (external USB burners, not the computers) so you can make yourself mix cds of anything you like.

Have you tried listening to podcasts (there are a million ones aimed at people trying to sleep!) or things like old time radio?
posted by trig at 12:58 PM on February 13 [2 favorites]

I'm not sure I recommend either of these, but there was a period of my life where I was falling asleep to either of these two albums:
The Black Heart Procession - Three
Ulla Pirttjarvi - Ruossa Eanan (she has stuff out there on the Internet, I just thought it was funny to find the actual cd I listened to on ebay)
posted by AbelMelveny at 1:15 PM on February 13

If show tunes are good, maybe A Year with Frog and Toad?
posted by kristi at 1:50 PM on February 13

Eno's ambient stuff is pretty good.
When CDs were emerging as a medium he wrote Thursday Afernoom to take full advantage of their greater length over vinyl. Best when falling asleep on an actual Thursday Afternoon.
posted by rongorongo at 2:57 PM on February 13 [1 favorite]

I always found Beatles covers soothing, how about the soundtrack to the movie I Am Sam
posted by redrowan at 4:39 PM on February 13 [1 favorite]

I fall asleep to podcasts and audiobooks for similar reasons. It’s possible audiobooks may also fit this for you (though I use sleep timers for 30 min auto shutoffs, not sure if there might be a similar option for CDs)
posted by raccoon409 at 6:08 PM on February 13

I used to listen Rabbit Songs by Hem while falling asleep.
posted by mrphancy at 6:15 PM on February 13 [1 favorite]

If you like Cats, maybe you would also enjoy other Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. He's done several!

You might also enjoy audiobooks of people reading aloud the kind of poetry that has strong rhythms and rhymes. Maybe Shakespeare's sonnets, or Kipling, or Longfellow.

Here are a few albums you could try - I think you might like sort of the softer side of rock, and folk-rock. I am nearly 100% positive all of these are available for sale as CDs.

Vienna Teng, Dreaming Through the Noise

k.d. lang, Hymns of the 49th Parallel

Belle and Sebastian, The Boy With The Arab Strap

Guster, Easy Wonderful

Communist Daughter, Soundtrack to the End
posted by brainwane at 6:51 PM on February 13

Hah, I came here to recommend Easy Wonderful and didn’t expect to get beaten to the punch. They have a brand new album I also am enjoying called Ooh Lah Luxe.
posted by PussKillian at 6:59 PM on February 13 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions and please keep them coming. These will be great to try.

I only allow a radio/cd player in my bedroom, so things requiring the internet or a phone/tablet won't work. I can get a burner to burn cds again, which is something I forgot I can do.
posted by Higherfasterforwards at 7:00 PM on February 13

Julie Byrne
posted by kensington314 at 7:47 PM on February 13

Just to clarify, you're only looking for music with words?
posted by kensington314 at 7:48 PM on February 13

Slowdive - Souvlaki
Mojave 3 - Ask Me Tomorrow
Dead Can Dance - The Serpent's Egg (or several other of their albums)
posted by demonic winged headgear at 8:33 PM on February 13

Your library may have a cd/dvd burner, certainly will have lots of cds to borrow and try. I'd try musicals that are sung through, more like opera, but not necessarily operatic music. Rent, Les Miserable, Phantom of the Opera, Into the Woods, etc.
posted by theora55 at 8:49 PM on February 13

To my shame, I fell asleep to either The Phantom of the Opera or Les Miserables (original London cast recording on cassette in both cases) for like... every night from the ages of 12 to 14 or so. I went through several cassettes of Phantom but eventually graduated to CDs. I can still hear some of the music in my head if I think about it hard enough! ("Confrontation" from Les Miz in particular.) So what I'm saying is -- those work! Also try Into the Woods and The Secret Garden for sure, perhaps also Miss Saigon.

I would also recommend anything by Cocteau Twins except that the words are not typically recognizable. Jeff Buckley's album Grace? Sinead O'Connor's 80s-90s output, particularly I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. Geoffrey Oryema's Beat The Border if you like extremely chill calming 90s Afropop, maybe. Or maybe Massive Attack's Mezzanine or something by Tricky or Everything But the Girl?

I'd also second demonic winged headgear's recs. If you like the genres, the answer to this question probably lives in the dreampop/shoegaze/etc realm.
posted by verbminx at 12:16 AM on February 14

Belle and Sebastian, The Boy With The Arab Strap

In this vein: Kings of Convenience – Riot On An Empty Street, Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago, Thievery Corporation – Saudade, James Blake – Overgrown, Beach House – Beach House, Spiritualized – Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, Beck – Morning Phase. Maybe some Simon & Garfunkel?
posted by fridgebuzz at 12:24 AM on February 14

Stars of the Lid - The Tired Sounds of

slow, stringed instrumental drone. some of the tracks sample a little dialogue and noise from movies.
posted by are-coral-made at 1:40 AM on February 14

I can get a burner to burn cds again, which is something I forgot I can do.

If you do that, I asked for sleepy songs for a similar reason about ten years ago, and wow did that ever work - I even named the CD "Auditory Ambien". I still have it as a Spotify playlist if you want to preview.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:05 AM on February 14

Amazon link for information but certainly support not buying it there... The Robert Shaw version of Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil (aka Vespers) was my go-to every night for literal years and got me through some incredibly difficult anxiety and insomnia.
posted by notquitemaryann at 7:37 AM on February 14 [1 favorite]

As an aside for those who do stream, it is available on youtube as well.
posted by notquitemaryann at 7:40 AM on February 14

I fell asleep to the dissonant sounds of My Bloody Valentine's 'Loveless' for a few years when my anxiety was at a vexing peak. The combination of an overwhelming yet melodic wall of sound and an almost unintelligible set of lyrics worked well for me. Shoegaze is good that way.

Now that I'm older and more settled - ahem - I listen to the podcast 'This Paranormal Life' every night while I sleep. The buddy-comedy vibe coupled with ridiculous cryptozoological subject matter works for me on several levels. You could download and burn it to a CD to keep within your somewhat "old-school" guidelines. #needsmust
posted by Pecinpah at 7:54 AM on February 14 [1 favorite]

alan watts
posted by j_curiouser at 9:29 AM on February 14

Seconding Kings of Convenience - Riot on an Empty Street. Great lush calm vibes and harmonizing vocals that have always done a great job hypnotizing me to sleep.
posted by windbox at 10:25 AM on February 14 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I went and checked out a record/cd store today and was only able to find a couple of these recommends,boo. It was fun to wander though and pick up random ones that looked interesting including a Peter Seeger Americana folk ways and a Frank Sinatra best of. It also reminded me just how much music is out there that I've never heard
posted by Higherfasterforwards at 10:26 AM on February 14 [1 favorite]

Higherfasterforwards, I'm so happy that this is an opportunity for you to browse and discover music! There is SO MUCH and it's so varied. And Sinatra sounds like a good choice for sleepy music to suit your taste. (By the way, if you tell a record store clerk about CDs you'd like, sometimes they'll be able to order some for you.)

Smithsonian Folkways has SO MANY great albums, and sells them as compact discs! (And they have made a commitment to not letting albums go "out of print"; "Whether it sells 8,000 copies each year or only one copy every five years, every Folkways title remains available for purchase.") If you like the Seeger CD and it doesn't feel too rousing for bedtime, you might also enjoy this labor song compilation. You could also join me in being one of the tiny percentage of humans who get familiar with Oscar Brand's collection Presidential Campaign Songs, 1789-1996, featuring lyrics that I will sing at the drop of a hat such as

Rock-a-bye, baby / Daddy's a Whig.....

Rum-a-dum-dum, vote for Taylor / rum-a-dum-dum, son of freedom....

Wait for the wagon / the Millard Fillmore wagon / wait for the wagon and we'll all take a ride.....

posted by brainwane at 10:45 AM on February 14 [2 favorites]

Starflyer 59 is one of my favorite bands. They usually play shoegazer rock (think Smashing Pumpkins mixed with The Smiths) but they released a lullaby album that covered their own songs last month. Here's a sample: Hazelwould Dormir Version. The original version is here if you want to know what it sounded like: Hazelwould Silver Album Version.
posted by tacodave at 3:24 PM on February 14

It was fun to wander though and pick up random ones that looked interesting including a Peter Seeger Americana folk ways and a Frank Sinatra best of.

I was actually first going to suggest Frank Sinatra Sings the Great American Songbook. Very smooth, and filled with classics :-)
posted by fridgebuzz at 3:30 PM on February 14

Explosions in the Sky's The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place is really good for this, partly because it has no words.
posted by less-of-course at 9:19 PM on February 14

And I am an idiot who only read the headline and you are looking for music with words. Sorry!
posted by less-of-course at 9:20 PM on February 14

KLF - Chill Out
posted by evilmonk at 4:13 PM on February 15

Now that I'm older and more settled - ahem - I listen to the podcast 'This Paranormal Life' every night while I sleep. The buddy-comedy vibe coupled with ridiculous cryptozoological subject matter works for me on several levels.

My GF has been similarly listening to the more entertaining Art Bell-era episodes of Coast to Coast to help her deal with the anxiety of What's Going On. The link function doesn't seem to be working, though searching for Art Bell/Coast to Coast should take you to their Art Bell Vault. You might have to pay for a membership though, and it might take some work to try to download them. (And the George Noory-era shows - where he featured anti-vaxxers and his ilk - are significantly less amusing).
posted by gtrwolf at 9:11 AM on February 16 [1 favorite]