TempoPeek

Bruce Springsteen · The Ghost of Tom Joad

The Ghost of Tom Joad

The Ghost of Tom Joad is in D major at 88.6 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

89 BPM · Andantemedian of 161 analyses · 88.6–88.8 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
93%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
161people who ran the extractor
One beat
677.2milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.5Hz · +6 cents from A 440
Dynamics
7.31dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.145Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
0.916Essentia'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

161 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 93% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 161 readings; 93% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 88.6 BPM one beat lasts 677.2 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 169.3 ms and a dotted eighth 507.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 44.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 177.2. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.5 Hz, which is 6 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 7.31 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 0.145 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 D 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 D major

Each of these differs from D 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 89 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42708.80.37
Half note21354.40.74
Dotted quarter1.51015.80.98
Quarter note (one beat)1677.21.48
Quarter triplet0.667451.52.22
Dotted eighth0.75507.91.97
Eighth note0.5338.62.95
Eighth triplet0.333225.74.43
Dotted sixteenth0.3752543.94
Sixteenth note0.25169.35.91
Sixteenth triplet0.167112.98.86
Thirty-second note0.12584.711.81

Half time 44.3 BPM · double time 177.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (677.2 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Run for Your LifeThe BeatlesD major88BPM
  2. The OceanLed ZeppelinD major89BPM
  3. Rain, Tax (It’s Inevitable)Céline DionD major89BPM
  4. Despacito (remix)Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin BieberD major89BPM
  5. The Heart of the MatterDon HenleyD major88BPM
  6. On the RiseMeat PuppetsD major89BPM
  7. I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With YouRamonesD major89BPM
  8. In Your EyesPeter GabrielD major89BPM
  9. Fat Bottomed GirlsQueenD major89BPM
  10. ThrillerFall Out BoyD major90BPM

Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 89 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D majorAll songs at 89 BPMD major at 80–89 BPMBruce Springsteen

MusicBrainz collapses 138 recording ids into this one. Recording id b5a99727-7943-4207-a125-ff04a49a345c.