Guide
What makes a good sleep song?
A short, practical look at why some songs help you drift off and others keep you awake, and how the sleep songs on this site were picked.
1. Slow and unhurried
Sleep songs move slowly. A relaxed pace close to a resting heartbeat is the usual advice, and lofi already lives there. A busy groove or a fast melody asks you to follow it, which is the opposite of what you want at night.
2. Predictable, in a good way
Music that surprises you keeps you listening. Good sleep songs repeat gently, change slowly and never build to a big moment. That is why your favourite album is often a bad sleep album: you know the exciting bits are coming.
3. No sudden jumps
A quiet song with one loud hit is worse than a song that stays a little louder all the way through. Soft note attacks and an even level matter more than the overall volume. These are two of the four things measured for every song on this site.
4. No words
Lyrics pull at the language part of the brain whether you want them to or not. Every sleep song here is instrumental; the two Purrple Cat records with vocals are left out.
5. Quiet, and finite
Keep the volume low enough that you could talk over it. And let it end: many sleep guides suggest music for the first half hour or so rather than all night. That is the idea behind counting songs: pick 3, 5, 8 or 12 and the player goes quiet after the last one, fading over its final 25 seconds.
How the songs were picked
Every instrumental Purrple Cat song of at least a minute and a half was measured for four things: how sharply its notes start, how often the volume jumps, how much the level moves, and how bright the tone is (plus a little for pace). Combined, that gives a calm score. The calmest 146 made the cut, and the Halloween records were left out. Each song’s ear tag is its calm rank, and its fleece (1 to 5 tufts) shows which fifth of the flock it falls in.
Which flock for which night
| If… | Try | Length |
|---|---|---|
| You want the very calmest, nothing else | Lights Out | 34 min |
| You like a record made for bedtime | Sleep Tight | 26 min |
| You like space, distance and slow movement | Counting Stars | 34 min |
| You want warm, outdoorsy and green | Hill Pasture | 35 min |
| You fall asleep best with the city winding down | Sleepy Town | 35 min |
| You want somewhere far away and still | Far Fields | 34 min |
| You want sleep songs for hours | The Whole Flock | 6 h 53 min |
A small routine
Dim the lights, put the phone face down, choose how many songs, press start and stop looking at the screen. If you are still awake when the count ends, that is fine: press play and it counts again.
This is general listening advice, not medical advice. If you have trouble sleeping often, talk to a doctor.
