TempoPeek

David Bowie · The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars

Five Years

Five Years is in C major at 153.3 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

153 BPM · Allegromedian of 308 analyses · 153.3–154.5 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
95%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
308people who ran the extractor
One beat
391.4milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.5Hz · +6 cents from A 440
Dynamics
10.1dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.344Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.108Essentia'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

308 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 95% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 308 readings; 96% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 153.3 to 154.5 BPM.

At 153.3 BPM one beat lasts 391.4 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 97.8 ms and a dotted eighth 293.5 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 76.7 BPM, counted twice as fast 306.6. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.5 Hz, which is 6 cents above 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 10.1 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 0.344 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 153 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41565.60.64
Half note2782.81.28
Dotted quarter1.5587.11.7
Quarter note (one beat)1391.42.56
Quarter triplet0.667260.93.83
Dotted eighth0.75293.53.41
Eighth note0.5195.75.11
Eighth triplet0.333130.57.67
Dotted sixteenth0.375146.86.81
Sixteenth note0.2597.810.22
Sixteenth triplet0.16765.215.33
Thirty-second note0.12548.920.44

Half time 76.7 BPM · double time 306.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (391.4 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Cry Baby CryThe BeatlesC major153BPM
  2. Where Is the LoveCéline DionC major153BPM
  3. Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)Jay‐ZC major154BPM
  4. SongbirdEva CassidyC major154BPM
  5. Let Love RuleLenny KravitzC major153BPM
  6. It Doesn’t Matter AnymoreLinda RonstadtC major153BPM
  7. They’re Red HotRed Hot Chili PeppersC major153BPM
  8. Fire and RainJames TaylorC major152BPM
  9. Rock ’n’ Roll With MeDavid BowieC major154BPM
  10. The Nearness of YouNorah JonesC major154BPM

Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 153 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C majorAll songs at 153 BPMC major at 150–159 BPMDavid Bowie

MusicBrainz collapses 72 recording ids into this one. Recording id 9c9345d9-a631-484b-b66b-4e78aa776cb3.