TempoPeek

The B‐52’s · Good Stuff

Tell It Like It T‐I‐Is

Tell It Like It T‐I‐Is is in F sharp major at 136.9 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

137 BPM · Allegromedian of 183 analyses · 136.8–136.9 across the middle eight tenths
Key
F♯ major6 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
100%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
183people who ran the extractor
One beat
438.3milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
2.63dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.902Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.259Essentia'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

183 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 100% — put it in F sharp major, a key signature of 6 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 183 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 136.9 BPM one beat lasts 438.3 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 109.6 ms and a dotted eighth 328.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 68.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 273.8. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.2 Hz, which is 23 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 2.63 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 0.902 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 sharp 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 137 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41753.10.57
Half note2876.61.14
Dotted quarter1.5657.41.52
Quarter note (one beat)1438.32.28
Quarter triplet0.667292.23.42
Dotted eighth0.75328.73.04
Eighth note0.5219.14.56
Eighth triplet0.333146.16.85
Dotted sixteenth0.375164.46.08
Sixteenth note0.25109.69.13
Sixteenth triplet0.1677313.69
Thirty-second note0.12554.818.25

Half time 68.5 BPM · double time 273.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (438.3 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Right as RainAdeleF♯ major137BPM
  2. Have You Ever Been in LoveCéline DionF♯ major138BPM
  3. I Finally Found SomeoneBarbra Streisand and Bryan AdamsF♯ major139BPM
  4. CathedralCrosby, Stills & NashF♯ major139BPM
  5. Too MuchDrake feat. SamphaF♯ major140BPM
  6. Sous le ventGarou en duo avec Céline DionF♯ major141BPM
  7. Knockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGuns N’ RosesF♯ major133BPM
  8. FirestarterProdigyF♯ major142BPM
  9. Virginia PlainRoxy MusicF♯ major131BPM
  10. Little WingThe Jimi Hendrix ExperienceF♯ major143BPM

Recordings in F sharp major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 137 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in F sharp majorAll songs at 137 BPMF♯ major at 130–139 BPMThe B‐52’s

MusicBrainz collapses 5 recording ids into this one. Recording id 68257c14-6d95-4b58-8368-3e14b5fb6df5.