"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Goodbye Evergreen" by Sufjan Stevens. Dramatic quiet-to-loud arc, stormy climax. layered composition, overlapping color planes. Mood: cathartic, introspective, melancholy. Visual style: contemporary 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."
Balanced energy, right in the middle of 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for dinner.
80
BPM
Goodbye Evergreen by Sufjan Stevens is 80 BPM — Andante (walking pace).
Half-time 40 BPM · Double-time 160 BPM · released 2023
Fan image for "Goodbye Evergreen"
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: Begins with soft piano and fragile vocals, building to chaotic synths, distorted harmonies, flutes, backing vocals, and clanging percussion before resolving into ambient drones. Features an opening inhale breath and repetitive lyrical phrases amid dynamic swells.
Misophonia Triggers
Recommended for: deep listening emotional release meltdown recovery
A grief-laden opener structured in three emotional sections—sullen balladry, overwhelming chaotic production, and reflective ambient close—exploring loss through soft piano, explosive instrumentation, and repeating farewells to a loved one.
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The right gear changes everything.
Moods: cathartic, introspective, melancholy
Traditions: chamber pop, indie folk
Intense — what to expect
"Goodbye Evergreen" is in our intense band.
At least one of our five sensory dimensions crosses the threshold that means "this can be a lot." Most commonly: soft vocals or layered texture, or a dynamic range of 9/10. The full breakdown is below. If you arrived here looking for a calmer alternative, our use-case verdicts section flags songs with similar mood but lower intensity.
How this song sits on each sensory axis
A dynamic range of 9/10 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: present. This song uses surprise as a feature. For focus or background listening, it's likely to pull your attention away; for active listening, that's often the point.
Texture is layered — a full arrangement with clear separation between parts.
Predictability is low — this song does not follow standard verse-chorus form closely, and rewards active listening more than passive listening.
Vocal style: soft vocals.
Where this sits in Sufjan Stevens's catalog
We have 44 songs from Sufjan Stevens in the library. Of those, 18 are rated Safe, 20 Moderate, and 6 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 9/10 sits above the artist average of 5.4, making it the #3 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Other tracks from Javelin
We have 7 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans moderate in sensory profile.
- Will Anybody Ever Love Me? — moderate DR 7
- Everything That Rises — safe DR 4
- Javelin (To Have and To Hold) — moderate DR 6
- A Running Start — safe DR 4
- My Red Little Fox — moderate DR 6
- So You Are Tired — moderate DR 7
2023 context
Released in 2023. We have 188 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.1/10. This track is about average than the year average. Explore more from the 2020s.
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…
How fast is "Goodbye Evergreen"?
80 BPM — Slow (downtempo / ballad)
For running
Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.
For workouts
Warm-up, cool-down, yoga, stretching.
For daily life
Morning coffee, deep work, commute wind-down.
Browse more songs at 80 BPM.
When "Goodbye Evergreen" 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
No — 80 BPM is too slow for sustained cardio.
✗
Sleep / winding down
No — contains elements that will keep an awake nervous system engaged.
~
Driving / road trip
Maybe — the intensity / sudden changes are fine for solo highway driving but skip for city or rainy-weather driving.
✗
Cooking / dinner background
No — too active to function as background; will pull attention away from what you're doing.
✓
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.
Sufjan Stevens albums ranked by emotional devastation
From cozy Christmas to Carrie & Lowell — every Sufjan Stevens album rated for how much damage it will do to your afternoon. A passionate, st…
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
I rated every Billie Eilish album by emotional intensity
From bedroom ASMR whispers to walls of distortion — a deep sensory dive into all three Billie Eilish studio albums and what each one actuall…
Why this rating
We rate this song Intense. Our rule is deliberately conservative: any one of high dynamic range, present sudden changes, harsh texture, or a strained/screamed vocal is enough to trigger Intense on its own. Full scoring rubric: methodology.
This song in the Music Studio
60/100 intensity
See how “Goodbye Evergreen” 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
On our 19k-song scale this lands in the middle band — more energetic than 77% of songs, calmer than the other 23%. Its intensity reading of 60/100 comes from a dynamic range of 9/10, layered texture, moderate shifts, and soft 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 96% 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
Blown a Wish — My Bloody Valentine · 94%Come Down to Us — Burial · 90%Young Death — Burial · 90%Name Taken — Massive Attack · 89%
Closest matches by feel across all 19,209 measured songs — not by genre or artist, by how they actually move.
Dial the feeling up or down
What it’s good for
Sleep0/10
Focus5/10
Workout4/10
Dinner6/10
Party / hype4/10
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
2023 in context
The 188 songs we’ve measured from 2023 average a dynamic range of 6.1/10. At 9/10, 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
Intensity60
Dynamics89
Tempo22
Surprise50
Density33
Predictability100
Vocal force25
Trigger load63
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "Goodbye Evergreen"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Goodbye Evergreen" by Sufjan Stevens?
"Goodbye Evergreen" by Sufjan Stevens has a tempo of 80 BPM (Andante (walking pace)). At half-time that is 40 BPM, and at double-time 160 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Goodbye Evergreen" by Sufjan Stevens?
"Goodbye Evergreen" by Sufjan Stevens rates as Intense. Dynamic range 9/10, moderate sudden changes, layered texture, soft vocals vocal style. Any one of high dynamic range, present sudden changes, or harsh texture triggers the Intense rating.
How loud is "Goodbye Evergreen" — what is its dynamic range?
"Goodbye Evergreen" has a dynamic range of 9/10. Substantial quiet-to-loud arc. Start at a volume well below your top-end; the climax will land harder than the intro suggests.
Does "Goodbye Evergreen" have sudden or surprising changes?
Yes. "Goodbye Evergreen" uses surprise as a compositional feature. Expect unsignaled transitions.
What is "Goodbye Evergreen" best for?
In our library "Goodbye Evergreen" is recommended for: deep listening, emotional release, meltdown recovery. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Goodbye Evergreen" released?
"Goodbye Evergreen" is from 2023, on the album "Javelin". It appears in our 2020s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Goodbye Evergreen"?
We tag "Goodbye Evergreen" as cathartic, introspective, melancholy. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "Goodbye Evergreen"?
The vocal style is soft vocals.
Is "Goodbye Evergreen" good for running?
Not really — at 80 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Goodbye Evergreen" good for studying?
Only partially. The song's dynamic range (9/10) means there will be loud moments that break focus during deep work.
Can I use "Goodbye Evergreen" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Too intense overall.
Should I listen to "Goodbye Evergreen"?
"Goodbye Evergreen" is Intense in our ratings — dramatic dynamics, possible sudden changes, or strong vocal or textural energy. Best with intention rather than ambient use. If you are sensory-sensitive, the alternatives section surfaces calmer songs in the same mood family.
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.