"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "It's Natural to Be Afraid" by Explosions in the Sky. Dramatic quiet-to-loud arc, stormy climax. layered composition, overlapping color planes. Mood: cathartic, emotional, introspective. 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."
It's Natural to Be Afraid
Explosions in the Sky
All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (2007)
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Balanced energy, right in the middle of 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for dinner.
70
BPM
It's Natural to Be Afraid by Explosions in the Sky is 70 BPM — Adagio (slow).
Half-time 35 BPM · Double-time 140 BPM · released 2007
Fan image for "It's Natural to Be Afraid"
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Song DNA
Notes: Builds from a frightening, tense opening with eerie atmospheres to massive, cathartic crescendos, featuring heavily dynamic guitar swells and a lumbering groove around 6:25. Occasional jumps in the music may startle sensitive listeners amid the immersive post-rock layers.
Misophonia Triggers
Recommended for: deep listening emotional release
A 13-minute instrumental post-rock epic that starts with ominous tension and evolves into an emotional juggernaut of swelling guitars and dynamic builds.
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Moods: cathartic, emotional, introspective
Traditions: post-rock
Intense — what to expect
"It's Natural to Be Afraid" 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: instrumental 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 medium — conventional structure overall, with one or two moments that deviate from what you'd expect.
Vocal style: instrumental.
Where this sits in Explosions in the Sky's catalog
We have 32 songs from Explosions in the Sky in the library. Of those, 4 are rated Safe, 16 Moderate, and 12 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 9/10 sits above the artist average of 7.9, making it the #8 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Other tracks from All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
We have 5 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans moderate in sensory profile.
- Catastrophe and the Cure — intense DR 9
- The Birth and Death of the Day — moderate DR 7
- Welcome, Ghosts — moderate DR 8
- So Long, Lonesome — moderate DR 7
2007 context
Released in 2007. We have 311 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
Traditions
post-rock · 252How fast is "It's Natural to Be Afraid"?
70 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
Sleep, meditation, reading, focus work.
Browse more songs at 70 BPM.
When "It's Natural to Be Afraid" 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 — 70 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.
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 …
Why Post-Rock Works for Focus — The Logic of Slow Builds
Why post-rock holds attention that slides off everything else: long builds, few sudden changes, and enough happening to occupy the part of y…
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 “It's Natural to Be Afraid” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.
Listen on
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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 instrumental. 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
Dream Is Collapsing — Hans Zimmer · 99%Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) — Ludwig van Beethoven · 98%Catastrophe and the Cure — Explosions in the Sky · 98%With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept — Explosions in the Sky · 98%
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
Same feeling, calmer: Prelude in D-flat Major, Op. 28 No. 15 'Raindrop Prelude' — Frédéric Chopin
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.
2007 in context
The 311 songs we’ve measured from 2007 average a dynamic range of 6.3/10. At 9/10, this track is louder and more dynamic than its year.
Mixes smoothly with
Dream Is Collapsing — Hans ZimmerNocturne Op. 48 No. 1 — Frédéric ChopinSymphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 'Pathétique' — Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.
The fingerprint
Intensity60
Dynamics89
Tempo17
Surprise50
Density33
Predictability50
Vocal force0
Trigger load0
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "It's Natural to Be Afraid"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "It's Natural to Be Afraid" by Explosions in the Sky?
"It's Natural to Be Afraid" by Explosions in the Sky has a tempo of 70 BPM (Adagio (slow)). At half-time that is 35 BPM, and at double-time 140 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "It's Natural to Be Afraid" by Explosions in the Sky?
"It's Natural to Be Afraid" by Explosions in the Sky rates as Intense. Dynamic range 9/10, moderate sudden changes, layered texture, instrumental vocal style. Any one of high dynamic range, present sudden changes, or harsh texture triggers the Intense rating.
How loud is "It's Natural to Be Afraid" — what is its dynamic range?
"It's Natural to Be Afraid" 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 "It's Natural to Be Afraid" have sudden or surprising changes?
Yes. "It's Natural to Be Afraid" uses surprise as a compositional feature. Expect unsignaled transitions.
What is "It's Natural to Be Afraid" best for?
In our library "It's Natural to Be Afraid" is recommended for: deep listening, emotional release. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "It's Natural to Be Afraid" released?
"It's Natural to Be Afraid" is from 2007, on the album "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone". It appears in our 2000s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "It's Natural to Be Afraid"?
We tag "It's Natural to Be Afraid" as cathartic, emotional, introspective. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "It's Natural to Be Afraid"?
The vocal style is instrumental.
Is "It's Natural to Be Afraid" good for running?
Not really — at 70 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "It's Natural to Be Afraid" 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 "It's Natural to Be Afraid" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Too intense overall.
Should I listen to "It's Natural to Be Afraid"?
"It's Natural to Be Afraid" 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.
What this song means to people
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