TempoPeek

R.E.M. · Automatic for the People

The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite

The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite is in C major at 123.3 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

123 BPM · Allegromedian of 281 analyses · 123.3–123.4 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
99%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
281people who ran the extractor
One beat
486.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
449Hz · +35 cents from A 440
Dynamics
2.46dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.954Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.26Essentia'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

281 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 99% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 281 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 123.3 BPM one beat lasts 486.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 121.7 ms and a dotted eighth 365 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 61.7 BPM, counted twice as fast 246.6. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 449 Hz, which is 35 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 2.46 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 0.954 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 C 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 C major

Each of these differs from C 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 123 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41946.50.51
Half note2973.21.03
Dotted quarter1.5729.91.37
Quarter note (one beat)1486.62.06
Quarter triplet0.667324.43.08
Dotted eighth0.753652.74
Eighth note0.5243.34.11
Eighth triplet0.333162.26.17
Dotted sixteenth0.375182.55.48
Sixteenth note0.25121.78.22
Sixteenth triplet0.16781.112.33
Thirty-second note0.12560.816.44

Half time 61.7 BPM · double time 246.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (486.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Another Town, Another TrainABBAC major123BPM
  2. You Should Be DancingBee GeesC major123BPM
  3. Livin’ on a PrayerBon JoviC major123BPM
  4. Dreaming My DreamsThe CranberriesC major123BPM
  5. CrystalFleetwood MacC major124BPM
  6. Old DaysChicagoC major124BPM
  7. It Don’t Matter to MePhil CollinsC major123BPM
  8. The Man Who Married a Robot / Love ThemeThe 1975C major123BPM
  9. This Is What You Came ForCalvin Harris feat. RihannaC major124BPM
  10. Love TrainThe O’JaysC major123BPM

Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 123 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C majorAll songs at 123 BPMC major at 120–129 BPMR.E.M.

MusicBrainz collapses 5 recording ids into this one. Recording id 80eb1fcc-d5c1-4689-a9a5-b3259a72db28.