Paul Simon · Graceland
The Boy in the Bubble
The Boy in the Bubble is in G major at 135.9 beats per minute.
Tempo
136 BPM · Allegromedian of 266 analyses · 132–136.1 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- G major1 sharp · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 92%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 266people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 441.5milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 450.8Hz · +42 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 4.93dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.784Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.269Essentia'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
266 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 92% — put it in G major, a key signature of 1 sharp. The tempo printed above is the median of the 266 readings; 81% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 132 to 136.1 BPM.
At 135.9 BPM one beat lasts 441.5 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 110.4 ms and a dotted eighth 331.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 68 BPM, counted twice as fast 271.8. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 450.8 Hz, which is 42 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — far enough that playing along at 440 Hz will sound wrong. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.
The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 4.93 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 0.784 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 G 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 G major
Each of these differs from G 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 136 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1766 | 0.57 |
| Half note | 2 | 883 | 1.13 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 662.3 | 1.51 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 441.5 | 2.27 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 294.3 | 3.4 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 331.1 | 3.02 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 220.8 | 4.53 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 147.2 | 6.8 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 165.6 | 6.04 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 110.4 | 9.06 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 73.6 | 13.59 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 55.2 | 18.12 |
Half time 68 BPM · double time 271.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (441.5 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Hold OnGreen DayG major136BPM
- From This Moment OnShania Twain feat. Bryan WhiteG major136BPM
- Little SavageElvis Costello & The AttractionsG major136BPM
- Father and SonCat StevensG major136BPM
- Cherche encoreCéline DionG major136BPM
- I’m Just a Lucky So and SoLouis Armstrong & Duke EllingtonG major136BPM
- Does Your Mother KnowABBAG major136BPM
- School’s OutAlice CooperG major136BPM
- TroubleP!nkG major136BPM
- Where Did Our Love GoThe SupremesG major136BPM
Recordings in G major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 136 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in G majorAll songs at 136 BPMG major at 130–139 BPMPaul Simon
MusicBrainz collapses 30 recording ids into this one. Recording id 43aa23e4-b522-48ca-a0fe-e63aec7d5295.