Where the Wild Roses Grow
Where the Wild Roses Grow by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds feat. Kylie Minogue is 110 BPM — Moderato (moderate).
Half-time 55 BPM · Double-time 220 BPM · released 1996
Song DNA
Misophonia Triggers
A haunting murder ballad duet alternating between Nick Cave as the killer and Kylie Minogue as the victim, inspired by traditional folk tales like 'Down in the Willow Garden,' exploring themes of beauty, death, and violence.
Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: intimate, melancholy, reflective
Traditions: gothic folk, murder ballad
"Where the Wild Roses Grow" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds feat. Kylie Minogue
110 BPM, dynamic range 4/10, smooth texture, soft 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 4/10 is within the normal pop-mix band. There is variation between verse and chorus, but it's the kind of variation most listeners encounter routinely.
Sudden changes: none. Transitions are musically signaled — nothing will surprise you if you're only half-listening.
Texture: smooth.
Predictability is high — the song telegraphs what it will do next. A sensory-sensitive listener can usually guess where it's going without close attention.
Vocal style: soft vocals.
1996 context
Released in 1996. We have 309 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.4/10. This track is quieter / less dynamic than the year average. Explore more from the 1990s.
Explore by mood and tradition
Guides that may help
How fast is "Where the Wild Roses Grow"?
110 BPM — Upbeat (dance-pop / running warm-up)
Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.
Steady cardio, power walking, light weights.
Cooking, casual listening, cleaning, dinner music.
Browse more songs at 110 BPM.
When "Where the Wild Roses Grow" works, and when it doesn't
Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.
Maybe — fine for routine work, but the mid-song changes may pull attention during deep focus.
Maybe — at 110 BPM this is more warm-up or cool-down pace than peak-effort running.
Maybe — calm overall, but tempo is a bit high for deep sleep. Better for winding down than falling asleep.
Yes — predictable enough for safe driving attention, interesting enough to stay engaged.
Yes — sits in the background without demanding attention.
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.
Nick Cave's albums ranked by emotional darkness — which one is your nervous system ready for?
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds made some of the most devastating music in rock history. But not all darkness is the same. This guide ranks his …
Every Nick Cave album ranked by how close it sits to grief
Nick Cave's catalogue ranked not by quality but by proximity to real grief — from the flat, relentless ache of Ghosteen to the theatrical de…
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
Why this rating
We rate this song Safe because its dynamic range stays within our low-variance band, there are no unsignaled changes, and the texture and vocal style are both in the low-fatigue range. Our methodology uses an AND rule for Safe — a song has to clear every dimension to earn the rating.
See how “Where the Wild Roses Grow” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.
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Rating last reviewed: 2026-04-13. 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
This sits near the calm end of everything we've measured — gentler than 91% of the 19,209 songs in the library. Its intensity reading of 19/100 comes from a dynamic range of 4/10, smooth texture, no sudden shifts, and soft 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 97% 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
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
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
1996 in context
The 309 songs we’ve measured from 1996 average a dynamic range of 6.4/10. At 4/10, 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
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "Where the Wild Roses Grow"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Where the Wild Roses Grow" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds feat. Kylie Minogue?
"Where the Wild Roses Grow" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds feat. Kylie Minogue 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 "Where the Wild Roses Grow" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds feat. Kylie Minogue?
"Where the Wild Roses Grow" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds feat. Kylie Minogue rates as Low-Intensity. Dynamic range 4/10, no sudden changes, smooth texture. Our Low-Intensity rating means no single dimension triggers the higher-intensity thresholds.
How loud is "Where the Wild Roses Grow" — what is its dynamic range?
"Where the Wild Roses Grow" has a dynamic range of 4/10. Within normal pop-mix variation. Movement between verse and chorus but nothing dramatic.
Does "Where the Wild Roses Grow" have sudden or surprising changes?
No. "Where the Wild Roses Grow" has no sudden unsignaled changes. Every transition is musically telegraphed.
What is "Where the Wild Roses Grow" best for?
In our library "Where the Wild Roses Grow" is recommended for: deep listening, meltdown recovery, relaxation. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Where the Wild Roses Grow" released?
"Where the Wild Roses Grow" is from 1996, on the album "Murder Ballads". It appears in our 1990s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Where the Wild Roses Grow"?
We tag "Where the Wild Roses Grow" as intimate, melancholy, reflective. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "Where the Wild Roses Grow"?
The vocal style is soft vocals.
Is "Where the Wild Roses Grow" 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 "Where the Wild Roses Grow" good for studying?
Yes — low dynamic range (4/10) and no sudden changes means the song stays in the background without pulling focus.
Can I use "Where the Wild Roses Grow" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Dynamic range is too high — quiet moments will be ambushed by louder ones.
Should I listen to "Where the Wild Roses Grow"?
If you want gentle, low-arousal music, "Where the Wild Roses Grow" is a solid pick — Low-Intensity across every sensory dimension.
Songs with the same DNA
smooth texture, similar intensity — across any genre or era.
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