Phil Collins · Hello, I Must Be Going!
Why Can’t It Wait ’Til Morning
Why Can’t It Wait ’Til Morning is in A flat major at 117.6 beats per minute.
Tempo
118 BPM · Moderatomedian of 157 analyses · 117.4–117.7 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- A♭ major4 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 99%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 157people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 510.2milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 442.3Hz · +9 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 7dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.435Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 0.863Essentia'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
157 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 99% — put it in A flat major, a key signature of 4 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 157 readings; 90% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 117.6 BPM one beat lasts 510.2 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 127.6 ms and a dotted eighth 382.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 58.8 BPM, counted twice as fast 235.2. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 442.3 Hz, which is 9 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 7 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 0.435 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 A flat 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 A♭ major
Each of these differs from A♭ 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 118 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2040.8 | 0.49 |
| Half note | 2 | 1020.4 | 0.98 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 765.3 | 1.31 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 510.2 | 1.96 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 340.1 | 2.94 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 382.7 | 2.61 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 255.1 | 3.92 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 170.1 | 5.88 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 191.3 | 5.23 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 127.6 | 7.84 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 85 | 11.76 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 63.8 | 15.68 |
Half time 58.8 BPM · double time 235.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (510.2 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Every Breath You TakeThe PoliceA♭ major117BPM
- Take Me AwayBlue Öyster CultA♭ major117BPM
- Hero of the DayMetallicaA♭ major118BPM
- RockerAC/DCA♭ major118BPM
- Tell It to My HeartTaylor DayneA♭ major118BPM
- ParisThe 1975A♭ major117BPM
- Beating Around the BushAC/DCA♭ major117BPM
- Fire and IcePat BenatarA♭ major118BPM
- Speed of LifeDavid BowieA♭ major117BPM
- Burn This Disco OutMichael JacksonA♭ major116BPM
Recordings in A flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 118 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in A flat majorAll songs at 118 BPMA♭ major at 110–119 BPMPhil Collins
MusicBrainz collapses 1 recording id into this one. Recording id 7af79f14-9ba8-4c96-b8f0-bbebf268076e.