"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Times Like These" by Foo Fighters. Dramatic quiet-to-loud arc, stormy climax. layered composition, overlapping color planes. Mood: cathartic, contemplative, melancholy. Visual style: 2000s digital editorial aesthetic. 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."
Times Like These
Foo Fighters
One by One (2002)
Balanced energy, right in the middle of 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for focus.
100
BPM
Times Like These by Foo Fighters is 100 BPM — Andante (walking pace).
Half-time 50 BPM · Double-time 200 BPM · released 2002
Fan image for "Times Like These"
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: reflective lyrics with a driving beat
Recommended for: anxiety relief meltdown recovery
Right in the middle of our energy scale. The track has a big quiet-to-loud range with just a little movement, over a densely layered texture. 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 75% of songs, calmer than the rest.
Cultural Context
A fan favorite, often played at significant moments.
Listening Prompt
Reflect on personal challenges while enjoying the vibe.
What to Expect
Starts mellow, then builds to a powerful chorus.
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Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: cathartic, contemplative, melancholy
Volume Warning
"Times Like These" climbs hard.
Dynamic range 8/10 places this in our upper band. The opening volume that feels comfortable will not be comfortable at the climax. If you are setting this up for a focused listen, anchor your volume to the quietest section, not the loudest. The arc is the point of the song; if you blunt it by riding the volume knob, you lose what makes it work. Foo Fighters built the dynamic shape on purpose. Plan around it.
How this song sits on each sensory axis
A dynamic range of 8/10 is in the upper band of our library. This song has a significant quiet-to-loud arc. For sensory-sensitive listening, set the opening volume well below your comfortable top-end; the climax will land harder than the intro suggests.
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 Foo Fighters's catalog
We have 82 songs from Foo Fighters in the library. Of those, 5 are rated Safe, 38 Moderate, and 39 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 8/10 sits above the artist average of 7.5, making it the #22 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Other tracks from One by One
We have 6 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans moderate in sensory profile.
- All My Life — intense DR 9
- Low — intense DR 8
- Have It All — moderate DR 7
- Come Back — intense DR 8
- There Goes My Hero — moderate DR 7
2002 context
Released in 2002. We have 332 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.3/10. This track is about average than the year average. Explore more from the 2000s.
Explore by mood and tradition
Guides that may help
Music for Meltdown Recovery: What to Play When the World Is Too Much
Music for Meltdown Recovery: What to Play When the World Is Too Much — A guide for sensory-sensitive…
Jazz for Anxiety Relief: Which Subgenres Help and Which Overwhelm
Jazz for Anxiety Relief: Which Subgenres Help and Which Overwhelm — A guide for sensory-sensitive li…
How fast is "Times Like These"?
100 BPM — Medium (midtempo / pop ballad)
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 100 BPM.
When "Times Like These" works, and when it doesn't
Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.
✗
Focus / studying
No — too dynamic or too many surprises. Save for active listening.
~
Running / workout
Maybe — at 100 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
Yes — this is a song for actively feeling what you came to feel, not for background.
Related reading
Editorial guides that cover this song's use cases, moods, or artist.
Music for Meltdown Recovery: What to Play When the World Is Too Much
Music for Meltdown Recovery: What to Play When the World Is Too Much — A guide for sensory-sensitive listeners on musiciwant.com
Jazz for Anxiety Relief: Which Subgenres Help and Which Overwhelm
Jazz for Anxiety Relief: Which Subgenres Help and Which Overwhelm — A guide for sensory-sensitive listeners on musiciwant.com
Music for Anxiety and Panic Attacks: What Actually Helps, Acoustically
Most "anxiety music" playlists are curated by vibe and include songs that can escalate symptoms. This guide breaks down the acoustic propert…
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
55/100 intensity
See how “Times Like These” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.
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Rating last reviewed: 2026-04-05. 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 75% of songs, calmer than the other 25%. Its intensity reading of 55/100 comes from a dynamic range of 8/10, layered texture, mild shifts, and dynamic vocals. Relatively few songs occupy this exact corner of the spectrum.
What makes it unusual
What stands out most about this song is a huge quiet-to-loud swing: more extreme on that axis than 80% of everything we've measured. At the far opposite end of the library sit the songs built on near-total stillness — steady volume, no surprises, a slow and unhurried pulse — the kind of track this one is the counterpoint to.
Feels almost identical to
Eleanor Rigby — The Beatles · 99%Bam Bam — Camila Cabello feat. Ed Sheeran · 99%Try — P!nk · 99%Like a Rolling Stone — Bob Dylan · 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
Sleep2/10
Focus7/10
Workout4/10
Dinner7/10
Party / hype4/10
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
2002 in context
The 332 songs we’ve measured from 2002 average a dynamic range of 6.3/10. At 8/10, this track is louder and more dynamic than its year.
Mixes smoothly with
Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.
The fingerprint
Intensity55
Dynamics78
Tempo33
Surprise25
Density33
Predictability50
Vocal force75
Trigger load0
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "Times Like These"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Times Like These" by Foo Fighters?
"Times Like These" by Foo Fighters has a tempo of 100 BPM (Andante (walking pace)). At half-time that is 50 BPM, and at double-time 200 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Times Like These" by Foo Fighters?
"Times Like These" by Foo Fighters rates as Moderate intensity. Dynamic range 8/10, mild sudden changes, layered texture. Moderate is the default for well-produced music with real arc but no surprise elements.
How loud is "Times Like These" — what is its dynamic range?
"Times Like These" has a dynamic range of 8/10. Substantial quiet-to-loud arc. Start at a volume well below your top-end; the climax will land harder than the intro suggests.
Does "Times Like These" have sudden or surprising changes?
"Times Like These" has mild sudden changes — one or two transitions worth knowing about, but they are musically resolved rather than surprise-driven.
What is "Times Like These" best for?
In our library "Times Like These" is recommended for: anxiety relief, meltdown recovery. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Times Like These" released?
"Times Like These" is from 2002, on the album "One by One". It appears in our 2000s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Times Like These"?
We tag "Times Like These" as cathartic, contemplative, melancholy. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "Times Like These"?
The vocal style is dynamic vocals.
Is "Times Like These" good for running?
Not really — at 100 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Times Like These" good for studying?
Only partially. The song's dynamic range (8/10) means there will be loud moments that break focus during deep work.
Can I use "Times Like These" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Contains transitions that will wake you up.
Should I listen to "Times Like These"?
"Times Like These" 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.
What this song means to people
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Where to next?
You know how this one feels — now go find the next one.