TempoPeek

David Bowie · Let’s Dance

Cat People (Putting Out Fire)

Cat People (Putting Out Fire) is in F major at 128.8 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

129 BPM · Allegromedian of 150 analyses · 118–129.1 across the middle eight tenths
Key
F major1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
91%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
150people who ran the extractor
One beat
465.8milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
439.7Hz · -1 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.24dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.932Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.138Essentia'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

150 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 91% — put it in F major, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 150 readings; 75% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 118 to 129.1 BPM.

At 128.8 BPM one beat lasts 465.8 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 116.5 ms and a dotted eighth 349.4 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 64.4 BPM, counted twice as fast 257.6. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 439.7 Hz, which is 1 cents below concert A at 440 Hz — close enough to standard that a tuner would not argue. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.

The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 3.24 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 0.932 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 129 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41863.40.54
Half note2931.71.07
Dotted quarter1.5698.81.43
Quarter note (one beat)1465.82.15
Quarter triplet0.667310.63.22
Dotted eighth0.75349.42.86
Eighth note0.5232.94.29
Eighth triplet0.333155.36.44
Dotted sixteenth0.375174.75.72
Sixteenth note0.25116.58.59
Sixteenth triplet0.16777.612.88
Thirty-second note0.12558.217.17

Half time 64.4 BPM · double time 257.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (465.8 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Thunder RoadBruce Springsteen & The E Street BandF major129BPM
  2. Somebody That I Used to KnowGotye feat. KimbraF major129BPM
  3. RhiannonFleetwood MacF major129BPM
  4. This Is the TimeBilly JoelF major128BPM
  5. Get the Balance Right!Depeche ModeF major129BPM
  6. Never Stop (Start Me Up)The Rolling StonesF major129BPM
  7. You Can Call Me AlPaul SimonF major128BPM
  8. Soul Meets BodyDeath Cab for CutieF major128BPM
  9. RegretNew OrderF major130BPM
  10. It’s Not My Time3 Doors DownF major128BPM

Recordings in F major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 129 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in F majorAll songs at 129 BPMF major at 120–129 BPMDavid Bowie

MusicBrainz collapses 11 recording ids into this one. Recording id b2e9bc9d-0363-442a-833d-f1ba6e93ab3f.