TempoPeek

Cream · Wheels of Fire

Those Were the Days

Those Were the Days is in D major at 132.6 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

133 BPM · Allegromedian of 152 analyses · 132.5–132.7 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
54%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
152people who ran the extractor
One beat
452.5milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
437.7Hz · -9 cents from A 440
Dynamics
2.77dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.861Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.148Essentia'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

152 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. A bare majority of them — 54% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 152 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 132.6 BPM one beat lasts 452.5 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 113.1 ms and a dotted eighth 339.4 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 66.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 265.2. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 437.7 Hz, which is 9 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 2.77 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 0.861 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 133 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note418100.55
Half note29051.11
Dotted quarter1.5678.71.47
Quarter note (one beat)1452.52.21
Quarter triplet0.667301.73.32
Dotted eighth0.75339.42.95
Eighth note0.5226.24.42
Eighth triplet0.333150.86.63
Dotted sixteenth0.375169.75.89
Sixteenth note0.25113.18.84
Sixteenth triplet0.16775.413.26
Thirty-second note0.12556.617.68

Half time 66.3 BPM · double time 265.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (452.5 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Talk About the PassionR.E.M.D major133BPM
  2. Wild West EndDire StraitsD major133BPM
  3. Would I Lie to You?EurythmicsD major132BPM
  4. Thank You for Loving MeBon JoviD major132BPM
  5. Mood for a DayYesD major132BPM
  6. SquealerAC/DCD major133BPM
  7. The Best One Yet (The Boy)The Black Eyed PeasD major132BPM
  8. Dirty Little GirlElton JohnD major132BPM
  9. Jessie’s GirlRick SpringfieldD major132BPM
  10. Even the LosersTom Petty and the HeartbreakersD major132BPM

Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 133 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D majorAll songs at 133 BPMD major at 130–139 BPMCream

MusicBrainz collapses 12 recording ids into this one. Recording id 2d4a35e8-4718-447a-bd61-afa4fe1fa9e5.