"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Rigor Mortis" by Cameo. Noticeable climb from quiet to loud. layered composition, overlapping color planes. Mood: energetic, playful. Visual style: 1980s editorial aesthetic, neon accents against moody ground. Painterly, grainy film texture, muted palette with strategic accent colors. The composition should read left-to-right like a timeline — calm on one side, intensifying toward the other. Strictly no faces, no text, no logos, no literal objects, no band imagery. Pure color-field abstraction with emotional weight. 16:9 editorial format."
Balanced energy, right in the middle of 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for focus.
110
BPM
Rigor Mortis by Cameo is 110 BPM — Moderato (moderate).
Half-time 55 BPM · Double-time 220 BPM · released 1986
Fan image for "Rigor Mortis"
An abstract illustration of what this song feels like. Each image is built from a prompt — the text description fed to the image generator. Listeners submit their own prompts, upvote the ones that fit best, and the top-voted prompt drives the next regeneration. After 100 image votes, we make a new picture.
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Song DNA
Notes: The song features a groovy bassline and energetic brass sections, creating a lively atmosphere. The vocals are dynamic and engaging, adding to the song's overall intensity.
Misophonia Triggers
Recommended for: movement workout
Middle of the road on intensity, in the best way. The track rises and falls a fair amount with only a few mild shifts — a densely layered track with a big, expressive vocal out front at a steady, walkable tempo. It’s fairly predictable, with a shape you can follow. Across the library, it sits more energetic than 52% of songs, calmer than the rest.
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Moods: energetic, playful
Traditions: funk
At a glance
"Rigor Mortis" by Cameo
110 BPM, dynamic range 6/10, layered texture, dynamic vocals. Sits in the middle band — neither built for stillness nor pitched at workout intensity. Whether it works for a given moment depends more on mood and lyrical content than on the acoustic profile. The full sensory breakdown follows.
How this song sits on each sensory axis
A dynamic range of 6/10 means this song moves. Expect a real volume climb between quiet sections and the loudest part of the arrangement — enough that you may want to set the initial volume below where you'd normally land.
Sudden changes: mild. There are one or two transitions worth knowing about, though they're musically resolved rather than surprise-driven.
Texture is layered — a full arrangement with clear separation between parts.
Predictability is medium — conventional structure overall, with one or two moments that deviate from what you'd expect.
Vocal style: dynamic vocals.
Where this sits in Cameo's catalog
We have 20 songs from Cameo in the library. Of those, 0 are rated Safe, 20 Moderate, and 0 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 6/10 sits below the artist average of 6.1, making it the #18 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Other tracks from Word Up!
We have 13 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans moderate in sensory profile.
- Word Up — moderate DR 7
- Candy — moderate DR 6
- Flirt — moderate DR 6
- Back and Forth — moderate DR 6
- Attack Me with Your Love — moderate DR 6
- Shake Your Pants — moderate DR 6
- Sparkle — moderate DR 6
- Fast Love — moderate DR 6
- The Way You Look at Me — moderate DR 6
- Freaky Dancin — moderate DR 7
- Alligator Woman — moderate DR 6
- Talkin Out the Side of Your Neck — moderate DR 6
1986 context
Released in 1986. We have 223 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.6/10. This track is quieter / less dynamic than the year average. Explore more from the 1980s.
Explore by mood and tradition
Traditions
funk · 406Guides that may help
low-intensity Workout Music: Energy Without Overwhelm
low-intensity Workout Music: Energy Without Overwhelm — A guide for sensory-sensitive listeners on m…
Taylor’s Version: Why She Re-Recorded Her Own Albums
Taylor’s Version is the boldest move in modern music: re-recording her first six albums to own her m…
Respect: How Aretha Franklin Turned a Man’s Song Into an Anthem
Otis Redding wrote Respect as a man’s plea. Aretha Franklin flipped it — rearranging it into a woman…
How fast is "Rigor Mortis"?
110 BPM — Upbeat (dance-pop / running warm-up)
For running
Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.
For workouts
Steady cardio, power walking, light weights.
For daily life
Cooking, casual listening, cleaning, dinner music.
Browse more songs at 110 BPM.
When "Rigor Mortis" works, and when it doesn't
Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.
~
Focus / studying
Maybe — fine for routine work, but the mid-song changes may pull attention during deep focus.
~
Running / workout
Maybe — at 110 BPM this is more warm-up or cool-down pace than peak-effort running.
✗
Sleep / winding down
No — contains elements that will keep an awake nervous system engaged.
✓
Driving / road trip
Yes — predictable enough for safe driving attention, interesting enough to stay engaged.
✓
Cooking / dinner background
Yes — sits in the background without demanding attention.
~
Emotional release / catharsis
Not really — it's pleasant but doesn't hit hard enough for cathartic listening.
Related reading
Editorial guides that cover this song's use cases, moods, or artist.
low-intensity Workout Music: Energy Without Overwhelm
low-intensity Workout Music: Energy Without Overwhelm — A guide for sensory-sensitive listeners on musiciwant.com
Songs Like La Femme d’Argent by Air — 60 BPM With a Dynamic Range of 6
La Femme d’Argent measures 60 BPM, intensity 30/100 and dynamic range 6 — slow, but with far more movement than most slow records. Its match…
Why this rating
We rate this song Moderate because it falls between our Safe and Intense thresholds on at least one dimension. Moderate is the default for most well-produced music that has real arc but no surprise elements. Full rubric: methodology.
This song in the Music Studio
48/100 intensity
See how “Rigor Mortis” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.
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Rating last reviewed: 2026-04-17. Reviewed by the Music I Want editorial team against the documented methodology.
Think this rating is wrong? Contact the editor — every message is read and ratings get revised.
By the numbers: how this song compares
Computed from this song’s place among the 19,209 songs we’ve measured.
Where it sits in 19,000 songs
On our 19k-song scale this lands in the middle band — more energetic than 52% of songs, calmer than the other 48%. Its intensity reading of 48/100 comes from a dynamic range of 6/10, layered texture, mild shifts, and dynamic vocals. It shares this stretch of the spectrum with thousands of other tracks, so the finer fingerprint below is what really separates it.
What makes it unusual
What stands out most about this song is an unusually steady, even volume: more extreme on that axis than 79% of everything we've measured. At the far opposite end of the library sit the songs built on full chaos — sudden changes, huge quiet-to-loud swings, and relentless energy — the kind of track this one is the counterpoint to.
Feels almost identical to
Wild Wild Life — Talking Heads · 99%Ruin — Cat Power · 99%Open and Close — Fela Kuti · 99%She's Fresh — Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five · 99%
Closest matches by feel across all 19,209 measured songs — not by genre or artist, by how they actually move.
What it’s good for
Sleep4/10
Focus8/10
Workout3/10
Dinner7/10
Party / hype5/10
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
1986 in context
The 223 songs we’ve measured from 1986 average a dynamic range of 6.6/10. At 6/10, this track is gentler and steadier than its year.
Mixes smoothly with
Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.
The fingerprint
Intensity48
Dynamics56
Tempo39
Surprise25
Density33
Predictability50
Vocal force75
Trigger load25
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "Rigor Mortis"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Rigor Mortis" by Cameo?
"Rigor Mortis" by Cameo has a tempo of 110 BPM (Moderato (moderate)). At half-time that is 55 BPM, and at double-time 220 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Rigor Mortis" by Cameo?
"Rigor Mortis" by Cameo rates as Moderate intensity. Dynamic range 6/10, mild sudden changes, layered texture. Moderate is the default for well-produced music with real arc but no surprise elements.
How loud is "Rigor Mortis" — what is its dynamic range?
"Rigor Mortis" has a dynamic range of 6/10. Noticeable climb from quiet sections to loudest point. Set opening volume slightly lower than your preferred peak.
Does "Rigor Mortis" have sudden or surprising changes?
"Rigor Mortis" has mild sudden changes — one or two transitions worth knowing about, but they are musically resolved rather than surprise-driven.
What is "Rigor Mortis" best for?
In our library "Rigor Mortis" is recommended for: movement, workout. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Rigor Mortis" released?
"Rigor Mortis" is from 1986, on the album "Word Up!". It appears in our 1980s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Rigor Mortis"?
We tag "Rigor Mortis" as energetic, playful. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "Rigor Mortis"?
The vocal style is dynamic vocals.
Is "Rigor Mortis" good for running?
Not really — at 110 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Rigor Mortis" good for studying?
Only partially. The song's dynamic range (6/10) means there will be loud moments that break focus during deep work.
Can I use "Rigor Mortis" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Contains transitions that will wake you up.
Should I listen to "Rigor Mortis"?
"Rigor Mortis" is Moderate intensity — fine for most listeners, but with enough dynamic activity that it works best as active listening rather than background.
Songs with the same DNA
layered texture, similar intensity — across any genre or era.
Safer alternatives with a similar feel
These songs share similar moods but with a gentler sensory profile.
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Where to next?
You know how this one feels — now go find the next one.