Phil Collins · …But Seriously
That’s Just the Way It Is
That’s Just the Way It Is is in F major at 95.9 beats per minute.
Tempo
96 BPM · Andantemedian of 138 analyses · 95.9–95.9 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
- 138people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 625.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 4.67dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.799Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.07Essentia'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
138 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 138 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 95.9 BPM one beat lasts 625.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 156.4 ms and a dotted eighth 469.2 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 48 BPM, counted twice as fast 191.8. A score would mark that Andante, 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 4.67 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 0.799 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 96 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2502.6 | 0.4 |
| Half note | 2 | 1251.3 | 0.8 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 938.5 | 1.07 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 625.7 | 1.6 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 417.1 | 2.4 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 469.2 | 2.13 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 312.8 | 3.2 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 208.6 | 4.8 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 234.6 | 4.26 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 156.4 | 6.39 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 104.3 | 9.59 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 78.2 | 12.79 |
Half time 48 BPM · double time 191.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (625.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Look What You Done for MeAl GreenF major96BPM
- Around the WorldRed Hot Chili PeppersF major96BPM
- My ManEaglesF major96BPM
- Is This ItThe StrokesF major96BPM
- Love Over GoldDire StraitsF major96BPM
- What a Difference a Day MadeJamie CullumF major96BPM
- South Bound SaurezLed ZeppelinF major96BPM
- Believe Me NatalieThe KillersF major96BPM
- Lonely DaysBee GeesF major96BPM
- TornNatalie ImbrugliaF major96BPM
Recordings in F major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 96 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in F majorAll songs at 96 BPMF major at 90–99 BPMPhil Collins
MusicBrainz collapses 7 recording ids into this one. Recording id d363b732-caf6-4fa0-a554-e3c2b98e5ff1.