TempoPeek

The Killers · Sam’s Town

When You Were Young

When You Were Young is in E major at 130.3 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

130 BPM · Allegromedian of 187 analyses · 130.1–130.4 across the middle eight tenths
Key
E major4 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
83%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
187people who ran the extractor
One beat
460.5milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
442.5Hz · +10 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.08dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.903Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.094Essentia'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

187 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 83% — put it in E major, a key signature of 4 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 187 readings; 90% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 130.3 BPM one beat lasts 460.5 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 115.1 ms and a dotted eighth 345.4 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 65.2 BPM, counted twice as fast 260.6. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 442.5 Hz, which is 10 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 3.08 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 0.903 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 E 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 E major

Each of these differs from E 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 130 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41841.90.54
Half note29211.09
Dotted quarter1.5690.71.45
Quarter note (one beat)1460.52.17
Quarter triplet0.6673073.26
Dotted eighth0.75345.42.9
Eighth note0.5230.24.34
Eighth triplet0.333153.56.52
Dotted sixteenth0.375172.75.79
Sixteenth note0.25115.18.69
Sixteenth triplet0.16776.713.03
Thirty-second note0.12557.617.37

Half time 65.2 BPM · double time 260.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (460.5 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. A World Without LovePeter & GordonE major130BPM
  2. May You NeverEric ClaptonE major130BPM
  3. MandinkaSinéad O’ConnorE major130BPM
  4. Fuck YouLily AllenE major130BPM
  5. Barbie GirlAquaE major130BPM
  6. S.T.O.PDavid Guetta feat. Ryan TedderE major130BPM
  7. Face to Face (Demon remix)Daft PunkE major131BPM
  8. Down Payment BluesAC/DCE major130BPM
  9. New Star in the SkyAirE major130BPM
  10. Best of YouFoo FightersE major130BPM

Recordings in E major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 130 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in E majorAll songs at 130 BPME major at 130–139 BPMThe Killers

MusicBrainz collapses 68 recording ids into this one. Recording id b38f9ded-8ac3-409e-82c3-187495e4da47.