Sun Goes Down
Sun Goes Down by Lil Nas X is 90 BPM — Andante (walking pace).
Half-time 45 BPM · Double-time 180 BPM · released 2021
Song DNA
This sits gently on the calm side. The track rises and falls a fair amount and never jolts you — a smooth track with a light, easy vocal at an unhurried mid-tempo. It’s easy enough to follow without going flat. Across the library, it reads gentler than 83% of everything we’ve measured.
Cultural Context
Reflects the complexities of growing up and identity.
Listening Prompt
Think about your own journey and growth.
What to Expect
Maintains a constant emotional tone throughout.
Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: intimate, melancholy
"Sun Goes Down" by Lil Nas X
90 BPM, dynamic range 6/10, 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 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: none. Transitions are musically signaled — nothing will surprise you if you're only half-listening.
Texture: smooth.
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 Lil Nas X's catalog
We have 6 songs from Lil Nas X in the library. Of those, 0 are rated Safe, 4 Moderate, and 2 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 6/10 sits below the artist average of 7.0, making it the #6 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Other tracks from Montero
We have 3 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans moderate in sensory profile.
- Montero (Call Me By Your Name) — intense DR 8
- That's What I Want — moderate DR 7
2021 context
Released in 2021. We have 411 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.2/10. This track is about average than the year average. Explore more from the 2020s.
Explore by mood and tradition
Guides that may help
How fast is "Sun Goes Down"?
90 BPM — Medium (midtempo / pop ballad)
Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.
Warm-up, cool-down, yoga, stretching.
Morning coffee, deep work, commute wind-down.
Browse more songs at 90 BPM.
When "Sun Goes Down" 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.
No — 90 BPM is too slow for sustained cardio.
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.
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.
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
The 10 Calmest Albums Ever Recorded — A low-intensity Listening Guide
The 10 Calmest Albums Ever Recorded — A low-intensity Listening Guide — A guide for sensory-sensitive listeners on musiciwant.com
Teaching Music Listening to Kids Who Feel Music Strongly: A Gentle Approach
A gentle approach to introducing music to a child who feels it strongly — one who startles at sudden sound, or notices more than everyone el…
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 “Sun Goes Down” 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: 2026-04-05. 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
This sits near the calm end of everything we've measured — gentler than 83% of the 19,209 songs in the library. Its intensity reading of 27/100 comes from a dynamic range of 6/10, smooth texture, no sudden 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 deep calm: more extreme on that axis than 83% 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.
2021 in context
The 410 songs we’ve measured from 2021 average a dynamic range of 6.2/10. 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 "Sun Goes Down"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Sun Goes Down" by Lil Nas X?
"Sun Goes Down" by Lil Nas X has a tempo of 90 BPM (Andante (walking pace)). At half-time that is 45 BPM, and at double-time 180 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Sun Goes Down" by Lil Nas X?
"Sun Goes Down" by Lil Nas X rates as Moderate intensity. Dynamic range 6/10, none sudden changes, smooth texture. Moderate is the default for well-produced music with real arc but no surprise elements.
How loud is "Sun Goes Down" — what is its dynamic range?
"Sun Goes Down" 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 "Sun Goes Down" have sudden or surprising changes?
No. "Sun Goes Down" has no sudden unsignaled changes. Every transition is musically telegraphed.
What is "Sun Goes Down" best for?
In our library "Sun Goes Down" is recommended for: anxiety relief, deep listening. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Sun Goes Down" released?
"Sun Goes Down" is from 2021, on the album "Montero". It appears in our 2020s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Sun Goes Down"?
We tag "Sun Goes Down" as intimate, melancholy. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "Sun Goes Down"?
The vocal style is soft vocals.
Is "Sun Goes Down" good for running?
Not really — at 90 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Sun Goes Down" 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 "Sun Goes Down" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Dynamic range is too high — quiet moments will be ambushed by louder ones.
Should I listen to "Sun Goes Down"?
"Sun Goes Down" 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
smooth 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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