Pink Floyd · The Wall

The Show Must Go On

The Show Must Go On is in G major at 128.7 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

129 BPM · Allegromedian of 308 analyses · 128.4–129 across the middle eight tenths
Key
G major1 sharp · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
96%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
308people who ran the extractor
One beat
466.2milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.8Hz · +7 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.23dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.927Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.153Essentia'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 — 96% — put it in G major, a key signature of 1 sharp. The tempo printed above is the median of the 308 readings; 95% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 128.7 BPM one beat lasts 466.2 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 116.6 ms and a dotted eighth 349.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 64.4 BPM, counted twice as fast 257.4. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.8 Hz, which is 7 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 3.23 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 0.927 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 G 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 G major

Each of these differs from G 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 129 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41864.80.54
Half note2932.41.07
Dotted quarter1.5699.31.43
Quarter note (one beat)1466.22.15
Quarter triplet0.667310.83.22
Dotted eighth0.75349.72.86
Eighth note0.5233.14.29
Eighth triplet0.333155.46.44
Dotted sixteenth0.375174.85.72
Sixteenth note0.25116.68.58
Sixteenth triplet0.16777.712.87
Thirty-second note0.12558.317.16

Half time 64.4 BPM · double time 257.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (466.2 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

The same title by somebody else

  1. The Show Must Go OnQueenB minor84BPM

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. You Shook Me All Night LongAC/DCG major129BPM
  2. Lover’s RockThe ClashG major129BPM
  3. Wild Eyed Boy From FreecloudDavid BowieG major129BPM
  4. Dahomey DanceJohn ColtraneG major129BPM
  5. Pigs on the Wing, Part 1Pink FloydG major129BPM
  6. I Dream Myself Alivea‐haG major129BPM
  7. No TimeThe Guess WhoG major129BPM
  8. Pigs on the Wing, Part 2Pink FloydG major128BPM
  9. Long, Long Way From HomeForeignerG major128BPM
  10. Where Do the Children Play?Cat StevensG major129BPM

Recordings in G major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 129 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in G majorAll songs at 129 BPMG major at 120–129 BPMPink Floyd

MusicBrainz collapses 31 recording ids into this one. Recording id e90a6932-b238-4cc0-8331-6637469b7a34.