David Bowie · Diamond Dogs
We Are the Dead
We Are the Dead is in F major at 142.6 beats per minute.
Tempo
143 BPM · Allegromedian of 176 analyses · 140.4–143.3 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- F major1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 99%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 176people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 420.8milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 5.83dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.679Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.088Essentia'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
176 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 99% — put it in F major, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 176 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 140.4 to 143.3 BPM.
At 142.6 BPM one beat lasts 420.8 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 105.2 ms and a dotted eighth 315.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 71.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 285.2. A score would mark that Allegro, 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 5.83 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 0.679 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 F 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 F major
Each of these differs from F 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 143 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1683 | 0.59 |
| Half note | 2 | 841.5 | 1.19 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 631.1 | 1.58 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 420.8 | 2.38 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 280.5 | 3.57 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 315.6 | 3.17 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 210.4 | 4.75 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 140.3 | 7.13 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 157.8 | 6.34 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 105.2 | 9.51 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 70.1 | 14.26 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 52.6 | 19.01 |
Half time 71.3 BPM · double time 285.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (420.8 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- What It TakesAerosmithF major143BPM
- SliverNirvanaF major143BPM
- KimEminemF major142BPM
- Where Is Your HeartKelly ClarksonF major142BPM
- What a Girl WantsChristina AguileraF major142BPM
- DRIP$NotF major143BPM
- When the Levee BreaksLed ZeppelinF major143BPM
- A Hazy Shade of WinterSimon & GarfunkelF major142BPM
- Ship to WreckFlorence + the MachineF major142BPM
- The (After) Life of the PartyFall Out BoyF major142BPM
Recordings in F major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 143 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in F majorAll songs at 143 BPMF major at 140–149 BPMDavid Bowie
MusicBrainz collapses 1 recording id into this one. Recording id 074bd83d-4cf6-465e-9e6e-2acc426a45c1.