U2 · Sweetest Thing

Sweetest Thing (the single mix)

Sweetest Thing (the single mix) is in C major at 142.2 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

142 BPM · Allegromedian of 156 analyses · 142.1–142.3 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
88%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
156people who ran the extractor
One beat
421.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
442.5Hz · +10 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.77dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.849Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.059Essentia'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

156 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 88% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 156 readings; 98% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 142.2 BPM one beat lasts 421.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 105.5 ms and a dotted eighth 316.5 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 71.1 BPM, counted twice as fast 284.4. 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 3.77 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 0.849 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 142 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41687.80.59
Half note2843.91.19
Dotted quarter1.5632.91.58
Quarter note (one beat)1421.92.37
Quarter triplet0.667281.33.56
Dotted eighth0.75316.53.16
Eighth note0.52114.74
Eighth triplet0.333140.67.11
Dotted sixteenth0.375158.26.32
Sixteenth note0.25105.59.48
Sixteenth triplet0.16770.314.22
Thirty-second note0.12552.718.96

Half time 71.1 BPM · double time 284.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (421.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Amen OmenBen HarperC major142BPM
  2. I Can’t Stand Up for Falling DownElvis Costello & The AttractionsC major142BPM
  3. An Occasional DreamDavid BowieC major142BPM
  4. ShiloNeil DiamondC major143BPM
  5. FrownlandCaptain Beefheart & His Magic BandC major143BPM
  6. Mr. JonesCounting CrowsC major142BPM
  7. Old Brown ShoeThe BeatlesC major143BPM
  8. SkinMadonnaC major143BPM
  9. Spirits in the Material WorldThe PoliceC major141BPM
  10. Growin’ UpBruce SpringsteenC major143BPM

Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 142 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C majorAll songs at 142 BPMC major at 140–149 BPMU2

MusicBrainz collapses 1 recording id into this one. Recording id e847c011-64f3-4078-8856-f1ba3358171f.