David Bowie · Station to Station

Stay

Stay is in D minor at 119.4 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

119 BPM · Moderatomedian of 188 analyses · 119.4–119.8 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D minor1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
64%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
188people who ran the extractor
One beat
502.5milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
5.03dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.832Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.381Essentia'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

188 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. A bare majority of them — 64% — put it in D minor, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 188 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 119.4 BPM one beat lasts 502.5 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 125.6 ms and a dotted eighth 376.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 59.7 BPM, counted twice as fast 238.8. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.2 Hz, which is 23 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 5.03 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 0.832 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 minor; 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 minor

Each of these differs from D minor 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 119 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42010.10.5
Half note210051
Dotted quarter1.5753.81.33
Quarter note (one beat)1502.51.99
Quarter triplet0.6673352.99
Dotted eighth0.75376.92.65
Eighth note0.5251.33.98
Eighth triplet0.333167.55.97
Dotted sixteenth0.375188.45.31
Sixteenth note0.25125.67.96
Sixteenth triplet0.16783.811.94
Thirty-second note0.12562.815.92

Half time 59.7 BPM · double time 238.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (502.5 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

The same title by somebody else

  1. StayDestiny’s ChildB♭ major131BPM
  2. StayZedd & Alessia CaraF minor102BPM

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. The Man Who Sold the WorldDavid BowieD minor119BPM
  2. 3 A.M. Eternal (live at the S.S.L.)The KLFD minor119BPM
  3. Telegraph RoadDire StraitsD minor120BPM
  4. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)ABBAD minor120BPM
  5. Revolution 9The BeatlesD minor120BPM
  6. ShowerBecky GD minor120BPM
  7. Roller SkateNatasha BedingfieldD minor120BPM
  8. RunAirD minor120BPM
  9. Beautiful, Dirty, RichLady GagaD minor120BPM
  10. One TribeThe Black Eyed PeasD minor120BPM

Recordings in D minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 119 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D minorAll songs at 119 BPMD minor at 110–119 BPMDavid Bowie

MusicBrainz collapses 95 recording ids into this one. Recording id 81761085-6179-486d-a90f-a7e751a90511.