TempoPeek

R.E.M. · Green

The Wrong Child

The Wrong Child is in D major at 114.7 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

115 BPM · Moderatomedian of 128 analyses · 113.1–114.8 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
99%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
128people who ran the extractor
One beat
523.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.3Hz · +5 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.19dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.622Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
0.991Essentia'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

128 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 99% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 128 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 113.1 to 114.8 BPM.

At 114.7 BPM one beat lasts 523.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 130.8 ms and a dotted eighth 392.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 57.4 BPM, counted twice as fast 229.4. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.3 Hz, which is 5 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 3.19 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 0.622 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 115 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42092.40.48
Half note21046.20.96
Dotted quarter1.5784.71.27
Quarter note (one beat)1523.11.91
Quarter triplet0.667348.72.87
Dotted eighth0.75392.32.55
Eighth note0.5261.63.82
Eighth triplet0.333174.45.74
Dotted sixteenth0.375196.25.1
Sixteenth note0.25130.87.65
Sixteenth triplet0.16787.211.47
Thirty-second note0.12565.415.29

Half time 57.4 BPM · double time 229.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (523.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Island in the SunWeezerD major115BPM
  2. MeThe 1975D major115BPM
  3. War ChildThe CranberriesD major115BPM
  4. That’s Why You’re BeautifulBeyoncéD major115BPM
  5. Doolin‐Dalton / Desperado (reprise)EaglesD major114BPM
  6. Dance, DanceFall Out BoyD major114BPM
  7. American GirlTom Petty and the HeartbreakersD major114BPM
  8. PerfectThe Smashing PumpkinsD major114BPM
  9. The Wanderer (take 1)Dion & The BelmontsD major115BPM
  10. The GnomePink FloydD major115BPM

Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 115 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D majorAll songs at 115 BPMD major at 110–119 BPMR.E.M.

MusicBrainz collapses 1 recording id into this one. Recording id 5720038e-e3b4-40a3-8d53-944bc6068413.