Chuck Berry · Chuck Berry’s Golden Hits

Back in the U.S.A.

Back in the U.S.A. is in D major at 85.4 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

85 BPM · Andantemedian of 142 analyses · 85.3–162.1 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
50%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
142people who ran the extractor
One beat
702.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
440Hz · 0 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.59dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.954Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.417Essentia's danceability, 0–3

Source: AcousticBrainz, dump of 2022-06-23 (CC0) · MusicBrainz core data, 2026-09-17 (CC0) · how each number is measured. Measured up to 23.06.2022 — AcousticBrainz stopped collecting in 2022, so nothing released after that date is here.

What the numbers say

142 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. A bare majority of them — 50% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 142 readings; 84% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 85.3 to 162.1 BPM.

At 85.4 BPM one beat lasts 702.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 175.6 ms and a dotted eighth 526.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 42.7 BPM, counted twice as fast 170.8. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 440 Hz, which is 0 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — close enough to standard that a tuner would not argue. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.

The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 3.59 dB: that is how far the level wanders from its own average, so a small number means a loud, flat master and a large one means a recording that still breathes. Its average loudness is 0.954 on Essentia's 0-to-1 scale, which is not decibels and is not comparable to a streaming service's number.

10 other recordings here are in D major; the ones listed below are the closest in tempo.

Beats per bar are not in this dataset. AcousticBrainz's analysis reports a tempo, a key and a loudness, and no time signature at all, so this page does not print one — a 4/4 here would be a guess dressed as a measurement.

Keys that fit with D major

Each of these differs from D major by at most one accidental, or shares its tonic. That is the whole of what a mixing wheel encodes; here the relations are named instead of numbered.

Delay times at 85 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42810.30.36
Half note21405.20.71
Dotted quarter1.51053.90.95
Quarter note (one beat)1702.61.42
Quarter triplet0.667468.42.14
Dotted eighth0.75526.91.9
Eighth note0.5351.32.85
Eighth triplet0.333234.24.27
Dotted sixteenth0.375263.53.8
Sixteenth note0.25175.65.69
Sixteenth triplet0.167117.18.54
Thirty-second note0.12587.811.39

Half time 42.7 BPM · double time 170.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (702.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

The same title by somebody else

  1. Back in the U.S.A.Linda RonstadtG major172BPM

Matched on the title alone, so this list can hold a different song that happens to share a name. Nothing here claims one is a cover of the other.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. HarvestNeil YoungD major86BPM
  2. SimoriahAerosmithD major86BPM
  3. Hey, Johnny Park!Foo FightersD major85BPM
  4. Pictures of YouThe CureD major86BPM
  5. Romance in DurangoBob DylanD major85BPM
  6. Livin’ on the EdgeAerosmithD major85BPM
  7. WinningSantanaD major86BPM
  8. Detour Thru Your MindThe B‐52sD major87BPM
  9. Hello SunshineAretha FranklinD major84BPM
  10. RoygbivBoards of CanadaD major84BPM

Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 85 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D majorAll songs at 85 BPMD major at 80–89 BPMChuck Berry

MusicBrainz collapses 55 recording ids into this one. Recording id dd5612da-d5fc-43da-a4ed-27a594084c99.