The Strokes · Is This It

Take It or Leave It

Take It or Leave It is in F major at 153.8 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

154 BPM · Allegromedian of 127 analyses · 153.5–153.9 across the middle eight tenths
Key
F major1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
84%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
127people who ran the extractor
One beat
390.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
438.5Hz · -6 cents from A 440
Dynamics
2.43dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.792Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
0.994Essentia'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

127 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 84% — put it in F major, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 127 readings; 91% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 153.8 BPM one beat lasts 390.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 97.5 ms and a dotted eighth 292.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 76.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 307.6. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 438.5 Hz, which is 6 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 2.43 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 0.792 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 F 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 F major

Each of these differs from F 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 154 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41560.50.64
Half note2780.21.28
Dotted quarter1.5585.21.71
Quarter note (one beat)1390.12.56
Quarter triplet0.667260.13.85
Dotted eighth0.75292.63.42
Eighth note0.5195.15.13
Eighth triplet0.3331307.69
Dotted sixteenth0.375146.36.84
Sixteenth note0.2597.510.25
Sixteenth triplet0.1676515.38
Thirty-second note0.12548.820.51

Half time 76.9 BPM · double time 307.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (390.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

The same title by somebody else

  1. Take It or Leave ItCage the ElephantC major120BPM

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. DoubtMary J. BligeF major154BPM
  2. My Kind of TownFrank Sinatra with Nelson Riddle and His OrchestraF major153BPM
  3. No SurprisesRadioheadF major154BPM
  4. I Will Follow You Into the DarkDeath Cab for CutieF major153BPM
  5. No SurrenderBruce SpringsteenF major153BPM
  6. Cat’s in the CradleHarry ChapinF major155BPM
  7. Play DeadBjörk & David ArnoldF major155BPM
  8. Saturday Night’s Alright for FightingElton JohnF major153BPM
  9. One and OnlyAdeleF major155BPM
  10. A Man Needs a MaidNeil YoungF major155BPM

Recordings in F major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 154 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in F majorAll songs at 154 BPMF major at 150–159 BPMThe Strokes

MusicBrainz collapses 32 recording ids into this one. Recording id 76cdf238-fa93-49a8-a256-fd8cda83338b.