David Bowie · Hunky Dory

Eight Line Poem

Eight Line Poem is in C major at 117 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

117 BPM · Moderatomedian of 261 analyses · 117–117.1 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
92%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
261people who ran the extractor
One beat
512.8milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
438.2Hz · -7 cents from A 440
Dynamics
8.68dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.068Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
0.937Essentia'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

261 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 92% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 261 readings; 92% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 117 BPM one beat lasts 512.8 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 128.2 ms and a dotted eighth 384.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 58.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 234. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 438.2 Hz, which is 7 cents below concert A at 440 Hz — the sort of drift a tape machine or a slightly different mastering leaves behind. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.

The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 8.68 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 0.068 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 C 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 C major

Each of these differs from C 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 117 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42051.30.49
Half note21025.60.98
Dotted quarter1.5769.21.3
Quarter note (one beat)1512.81.95
Quarter triplet0.667341.92.93
Dotted eighth0.75384.62.6
Eighth note0.5256.43.9
Eighth triplet0.333170.95.85
Dotted sixteenth0.375192.35.2
Sixteenth note0.25128.27.8
Sixteenth triplet0.16785.511.7
Thirty-second note0.12564.115.6

Half time 58.5 BPM · double time 234 BPM. Every row is one beat (512.8 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)Florence + the MachineC major117BPM
  2. Waiting on a FriendThe Rolling StonesC major117BPM
  3. Welcome to New YorkTaylor SwiftC major117BPM
  4. The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss)CherC major117BPM
  5. RosalynDavid BowieC major117BPM
  6. Learning to FlyTom Petty and the HeartbreakersC major117BPM
  7. Dry CountyThe B‐52sC major117BPM
  8. Let It BleedThe Rolling StonesC major117BPM
  9. DesiréeNeil DiamondC major117BPM
  10. JoeyBob DylanC major117BPM

Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 117 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C majorAll songs at 117 BPMC major at 110–119 BPMDavid Bowie

MusicBrainz collapses 7 recording ids into this one. Recording id 6221a91a-0ef4-490d-89f5-a230d089f0d8.