"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Cherry-Coloured Funk" by Cocteau Twins. Noticeable climb from quiet to loud. layered composition, overlapping color planes. Mood: joyful, warm. Visual style: early-1990s alternative aesthetic, weathered film grain. 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."
Cherry-Coloured Funk
Cherry-Coloured Funk by Cocteau Twins is 106 BPM — Andante (walking pace).
Half-time 53 BPM · Double-time 212 BPM · released 1990
Fan image for "Cherry-Coloured Funk"
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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How would you describe this song?
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Song DNA
An easygoing, settled feel. It’s fairly predictable, with a shape you can follow. The track rises and falls a fair amount with only a few mild shifts, densely layered in texture, with soft, gentle vocals on top at a steady, walkable tempo. Across the library, it sits more energetic than 34% of songs, calmer than the rest.
Cultural Context
Cocteau Twins were pioneers of the dream pop genre, and their influence can be heard in many contemporary artists. 'Heaven or Las Vegas' marked a moment of commercial success for the band while retaining their signature sound.
Listening Prompt
Let the colors of the music wash over you.
What to Expect
The track begins with shimmering guitars that create a radiant soundscape, inviting listeners into a world of dreamy textures. Elizabeth Fraser's ethereal vocals float above the instrumentation, weaving in and out like a gentle breeze. As the song progresses, it builds to an uplifting crescendo, leaving a lasting impression of joy and beauty.
Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: joyful, warm
"Cherry-Coloured Funk" by Cocteau Twins
106 BPM, dynamic range 6/10, layered 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 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: soft vocals.
Where this sits in Cocteau Twins's catalog
We have 18 songs from Cocteau Twins in the library. Of those, 11 are rated Safe, 7 Moderate, and 0 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 6/10 sits above the artist average of 5.4, making it the #9 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Other tracks from Heaven or Las Vegas
We have 3 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans moderate in sensory profile.
- Heaven or Las Vegas — moderate DR 7
- Iceblink Luck — safe DR 6
1990 context
Released in 1990. We have 238 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.5/10. This track is about average than the year average. Explore more from the 1990s.
Explore by mood and tradition
Guides that may help
How fast is "Cherry-Coloured Funk"?
106 BPM — Medium (midtempo / pop ballad)
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 106 BPM.
When "Cherry-Coloured Funk" 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 106 BPM this is more warm-up or cool-down pace than peak-effort running.
No — contains elements that will keep an awake nervous system engaged.
Yes — predictable enough for safe driving attention, interesting enough to stay engaged.
Yes — sits in the background without demanding attention.
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.
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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.
See how “Cherry-Coloured Funk” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.
Listen on
Spotify and YouTube links go direct to the track when we have the ID; otherwise they search for it. Embed this sensory profile on your site →
Rating last reviewed: 2026-04-04. 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 34% of songs, calmer than the other 66%. Its intensity reading of 40/100 comes from a dynamic range of 6/10, layered texture, mild 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 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
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.
1990 in context
The 238 songs we’ve measured from 1990 average a dynamic range of 6.5/10. At 6/10, this track is right in line with 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 "Cherry-Coloured Funk"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Cherry-Coloured Funk" by Cocteau Twins?
"Cherry-Coloured Funk" by Cocteau Twins has a tempo of 106 BPM (Andante (walking pace)). At half-time that is 53 BPM, and at double-time 212 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Cherry-Coloured Funk" by Cocteau Twins?
"Cherry-Coloured Funk" by Cocteau Twins 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 "Cherry-Coloured Funk" — what is its dynamic range?
"Cherry-Coloured Funk" 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 "Cherry-Coloured Funk" have sudden or surprising changes?
"Cherry-Coloured Funk" has mild sudden changes — one or two transitions worth knowing about, but they are musically resolved rather than surprise-driven.
What is "Cherry-Coloured Funk" best for?
In our library "Cherry-Coloured Funk" is recommended for: emotional release, meditation. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Cherry-Coloured Funk" released?
"Cherry-Coloured Funk" is from 1990, on the album "Heaven or Las Vegas". It appears in our 1990s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Cherry-Coloured Funk"?
We tag "Cherry-Coloured Funk" as joyful, warm. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "Cherry-Coloured Funk"?
The vocal style is soft vocals.
Is "Cherry-Coloured Funk" good for running?
Not really — at 106 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Cherry-Coloured Funk" 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 "Cherry-Coloured Funk" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Contains transitions that will wake you up.
Should I listen to "Cherry-Coloured Funk"?
"Cherry-Coloured Funk" 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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