The Beatles · Let It Be

Across the Universe

Across the Universe is in D flat major at 152.9 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

153 BPM · Allegromedian of 269 analyses · 152.6–162.2 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D♭ major5 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
87%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
269people who ran the extractor
One beat
392.4milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
445.1Hz · +20 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.04dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.878Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.092Essentia'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

269 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 87% — put it in D flat major, a key signature of 5 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 269 readings; 89% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 152.6 to 162.2 BPM.

At 152.9 BPM one beat lasts 392.4 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 98.1 ms and a dotted eighth 294.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 76.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 305.8. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 445.1 Hz, which is 20 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 4.04 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 0.878 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 flat 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 153 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41569.70.64
Half note2784.81.27
Dotted quarter1.5588.61.7
Quarter note (one beat)1392.42.55
Quarter triplet0.667261.63.82
Dotted eighth0.75294.33.4
Eighth note0.5196.25.1
Eighth triplet0.333130.87.65
Dotted sixteenth0.375147.26.8
Sixteenth note0.2598.110.19
Sixteenth triplet0.16765.415.29
Thirty-second note0.12549.120.39

Half time 76.5 BPM · double time 305.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (392.4 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

The same title by somebody else

  1. Across the UniverseDavid BowieA major142BPM

Matched on the title alone, so this list can hold a different song that happens to share a name. Nothing here claims one is a cover of the other.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Alice’s Restaurant MassacreeArlo GuthrieD♭ major153BPM
  2. B.O.B.OutKastD♭ major154BPM
  3. Will You Still Love Me?ChicagoD♭ major154BPM
  4. Hey Hey What Can I DoLed ZeppelinD♭ major154BPM
  5. HomeDepeche ModeD♭ major151BPM
  6. Manic DepressionThe Jimi Hendrix ExperienceD♭ major150BPM
  7. Hit the FloorLinkin ParkD♭ major150BPM
  8. StitchesShawn MendesD♭ major150BPM
  9. A Teenager in LoveDion & The BelmontsD♭ major156BPM
  10. Shut DownThe Beach BoysD♭ major156BPM

Recordings in D flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 153 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D flat majorAll songs at 153 BPMD♭ major at 150–159 BPMThe Beatles

MusicBrainz collapses 76 recording ids into this one. Recording id 90aa777f-5c69-4ed6-8ef9-6a576423e6a2.