The Police · Outlandos d’Amour
Born in the 50’s
Born in the 50’s is in E flat major at 141.2 beats per minute.
Tempo
141 BPM · Allegromedian of 137 analyses · 141.1–142.1 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- E♭ major3 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 54%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 137people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 424.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 4.84dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.847Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.25Essentia'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
137 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. A bare majority of them — 54% — put it in E flat major, a key signature of 3 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 137 readings; 93% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 141.2 BPM one beat lasts 424.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 106.2 ms and a dotted eighth 318.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 70.6 BPM, counted twice as fast 282.4. A score would mark that Allegro, 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 4.84 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 0.847 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 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 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 141 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1699.7 | 0.59 |
| Half note | 2 | 849.9 | 1.18 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 637.4 | 1.57 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 424.9 | 2.35 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 283.3 | 3.53 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 318.7 | 3.14 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 212.5 | 4.71 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 141.6 | 7.06 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 159.3 | 6.28 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 106.2 | 9.41 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 70.8 | 14.12 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 53.1 | 18.83 |
Half time 70.6 BPM · double time 282.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (424.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- PanamaVan HalenE♭ major141BPM
- Warning SignColdplayE♭ major141BPM
- For Reasons UnknownThe KillersE♭ major141BPM
- Bohemian RhapsodyQueenE♭ major140BPM
- Who Do You LoveThe Chainsmokers ft. 5 Seconds of SummerE♭ major140BPM
- Bad DayDaniel PowterE♭ major140BPM
- Love Doesn’t Ask WhyCéline DionE♭ major140BPM
- Lose It AllBackstreet BoysE♭ major140BPM
- Doctor JonesAquaE♭ major140BPM
- A Warm PlaceNine Inch NailsE♭ major140BPM
Recordings in E flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 141 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in E flat majorAll songs at 141 BPME♭ major at 140–149 BPMThe Police
MusicBrainz collapses 24 recording ids into this one. Recording id 5c9d6c6c-0249-4229-a505-99278bf7dcca.