Tempo is everywhere. Lydia Tár says that “time is the thing,” and she’s right: There’s no music without time. There’s also no us without it. Biorhythms are the cycles regulated by our internal clock: sleep and waking, body temperature, hormone release. But we’re also walking collections of bio–rhythms, that is to say, rhythms within our bodies. Your heartbeat, your breathing rate, the pace you walk at—each operates on a metronome that has to count just so, otherwise whole systems get thrown for a loop. Music can recalibrate those timers. It can amp us up when we’re feeling too lethargic, or calm us down when things are spinning out of control. With that in mind, I’ve collected five songs that each match a biologically meaningful BPM; from one college student to another, I’ve found they can offer some utility when our lives feel totally unregulated … which is often.
0 Beats per Minute: “Meditation No. 1” by Laraaji and Brian Eno
Snagged on a technicality! So a BPM of zero is technically impossible, but it feels pretty mundane to pin a tempo on this sprawling meditation courtesy of (my fave three–letter crossword answer) Brian Eno and new age forefather Laraaji. On this cut from the duo’s Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, ribbons of Laraaji’s electric zither trail across the endless expanse of Eno’s ambient vista. If there’s an internal rhythm they’re tapping into here, it’s probably closer to our circadian cycles of wakefulness and sleep, or the normal human breathing rate, which hovers right around 12 to 16 breaths per minute. That’s too slow to match any song with an actual beat, but perfectly attuned to the gentle ebb and flow of “Meditation No. 1.” Obviously great for doing yoga as well.
60 Beats per Minute: “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” by Chet Baker
What does heartbreak sound like? In technical terms, you start running the risk of bradycardia once you dip below 60 heartbeats a minute. For those of us who take things less literally, we have Chet Baker.
Ask me what it sounds like to be a boy and down bad, and I’ll tell you Chet Baker Sings. No more so than on “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” which toes the line of cardiac arrest by shuffling along at a languid 60 BPM. Bradycardic people might experience dizziness, weakness, and shortness of breath. Chet's “full of foolish song and out my song must pour,” asking the object of his affection to “forgive this helpless haze I'm in.” After a while, it might be hard to tell the difference.
80 Beats per Minute: “Teardrop” by Massive Attack
Not only does “Teardrop” hover right around the average human heart rate; there’s an actual human heartbeat buried in the song’s mix. Listen past the crackling vinyl hiss and Elizabeth Fraser’s crystalline melodies, and you can pick up on the persistent “lub–dub,” so close to the one pulsing in your chest that at first, it’s hard to tell where it’s coming from. There’s a profoundly calming aura to this single from Massive Attack’s Mezzanine, but a primordial kind, eerie kind. Sort of a sonic return to the womb, that impression is furthered by the in utero imagery of “Teardrop”’s classic music video. Everyone wants to return to the womb now and again, and this is a safe space to be open about that.
100 Beats per Minute: “As” by Stevie Wonder
Songs In The Key of Life—it’s hard to think of an album that more earns a spot on this list from just its title. The thing about Stevie Wonder is that there’s hardly an occasion his music isn’t well suited for, but Songs has the power to soundtrack a reinvigorating walk like no other. Mundane, I know, but bear with me. The record’s peak comes along with “As,” which is a) an epic love song all about transcending time itself and b) a cool 100 BPM pacesetter for a brisk, uptempo stroll. 100 beats per minute is also what we call the “‘Stayin’ Alive’ tempo,” which means this is another option to add to your CPR repertoire. Although I hope y’all aren’t thinking about what tunes to throw on before starting chest compressions.
130 Beats per Minute: “When Love Takes Over” by David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland
Being a David Guetta apologist, it’s not often I get to feel vindicated. And yet, whenever I begin to lose faith in the power of his ego–obliterating bangers, this track reminds me.
“When Love Takes Over” hovers right around 130 beats per minute, which I’m told by Zac Efron in We Are Your Friends—a movie I’m obsessed with but have not seen—is the optimal tempo for getting people out of their heads and into their bodies. The best dance music rides the tension between where the beat falls and where you expect it to fall, and Guetta is a master of that push and pull, stacking his side–chained four–on–the–floor against techno synth pulses to dizzying effect. Kelly Rowland is the star here, though; her rhapsodic house diva turn urges every reveler to sync up and sweat out the sorrow in unison.
