The Killers · Sam’s Town
For Reasons Unknown
For Reasons Unknown is in E flat major at 140.5 beats per minute.
Tempo
141 BPM · Allegromedian of 135 analyses · 140.5–140.5 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- E♭ major3 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 93%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 135people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 427milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 4.05dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.868Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.048Essentia'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
135 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 93% — put it in E flat major, a key signature of 3 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 135 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 140.5 BPM one beat lasts 427 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 106.8 ms and a dotted eighth 320.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 70.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 281. 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 4.05 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 0.868 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 E 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 E♭ major
Each of these differs from E♭ 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 141 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1708.2 | 0.59 |
| Half note | 2 | 854.1 | 1.17 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 640.6 | 1.56 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 427 | 2.34 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 284.7 | 3.51 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 320.3 | 3.12 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 213.5 | 4.68 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 142.3 | 7.03 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 160.1 | 6.24 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 106.8 | 9.37 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 71.2 | 14.05 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 53.4 | 18.73 |
Half time 70.3 BPM · double time 281 BPM. Every row is one beat (427 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Warning SignColdplayE♭ major141BPM
- Bohemian RhapsodyQueenE♭ major140BPM
- PanamaVan HalenE♭ major141BPM
- Who Do You LoveThe Chainsmokers ft. 5 Seconds of SummerE♭ major140BPM
- Bad DayDaniel PowterE♭ major140BPM
- Love Doesn’t Ask WhyCéline DionE♭ major140BPM
- Lose It AllBackstreet BoysE♭ major140BPM
- Doctor JonesAquaE♭ major140BPM
- A Warm PlaceNine Inch NailsE♭ major140BPM
- Born in the 50’sThe PoliceE♭ major141BPM
Recordings in E flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 141 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in E flat majorAll songs at 141 BPME♭ major at 140–149 BPMThe Killers
MusicBrainz collapses 38 recording ids into this one. Recording id da049a30-cba3-4923-a17f-00320f695e9d.