“Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson, meanspeed=131.0 beats per minute, meanemotion=Mixed Fast

photo courtesy of: www.milkhoney.org/kelly/


We at Meanspeed Trust have never had the ‘up close and personal’ song, and it is about time we featured some individual preferences.

Recently, I was lucky enough to interview one of the most respected corporate software programmers in the United States. The question was simple: What song would you like to see featured and what does this song mean to you?

The answer: “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson. Said this programmer, speaking from an undisclosed location: “That was my [break-up song of empowerment]. When I broke up with this man, I especially identified with the line: “Since you’ve been gone I can breathe for the first time.”

“Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson is faster than any meanspeed category—and as no one, including me, has come up with a name for mixed themes fast songs above 128 beat per minute, he song falls under no predictable emotional thematic expression. For example, at virtually the same speed, we can find everything from “Jump,” by Van Halen, a song of nearly orgasmic joy, to “Turn The Beat Around” by Vickie Sue Robinson, a song about music in the abstract, to “Separate Ways” by Journey, a great old Steve Perry break-up song.

The Meanspeed Frequencies™ for the song are:
Meanspeed=131.0 beats per minute;
Meanemotion=mixed fast (will someone please suggest a better name than ‘mixed fast’!);
Meanspace=0.458 seconds between beats;
Meanphase=2.183 beats per second;
Meanpitch=558.933 Hertz, 14 cents above C#5/Db5=554.365 Hertz, 86 cents below D5=587.330 Hertz.

Ian Schneider
November 7, 2006
NY, NY