"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Fooled By Love" by Mac DeMarco. Calm throughout, barely shifting. balanced composition. Mood: introspective, melancholy, reflective. 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."
Deep calm, gentler than 99% of our 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for sleep.
75
BPM
Fooled By Love by Mac DeMarco is 75 BPM — Adagio (slow).
Half-time 38 BPM · Double-time 150 BPM · released 2020
Fan image for "Fooled By Love"
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: Gentle acoustic strumming and mellow vocals create a soothing, low-stimulation listening experience ideal for sensitive ears. Minimal production avoids harsh elements or abrupt shifts.
Misophonia Triggers
Recommended for: anxiety relief meltdown recovery relaxation
A somber acoustic ballad exploring the repetitive pain of heartbreak and being deceived by love, delivered in Mac DeMarco's signature chill yet emotionally raw style.
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Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: introspective, melancholy, reflective
Traditions: indie rock, lo-fi
Quiet Track
"Fooled By Love" sits at 75 BPM. Built for stillness.
This is well below typical speech rhythm. The body reads slow tempo as permission to rest. Smooth texture and soft vocals keep the foreground spare. Good candidates for use: falling asleep, processing a hard day, slow mornings, study sessions where the music must not pull at you. Avoid for any task that needs alertness — the piece works against it.
How this song sits on each sensory axis
A dynamic range of 3/10 places this song in the "steady volume" band. Loudness stays within a narrow window from start to finish — you won't be ambushed by a louder section if you set the volume at the opening.
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.
Where this sits in Mac DeMarco's catalog
We have 41 songs from Mac DeMarco in the library. Of those, 33 are rated Safe, 8 Moderate, and 0 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 3/10 sits below the artist average of 4.2, making it the #40 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Other tracks from One Wayne G
We have 2 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans safe in sensory profile.
- 20191009 I Like Her — safe DR 4
2020 context
Released in 2020. We have 475 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.2/10. This track is quieter / less dynamic 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…
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 li…
How fast is "Fooled By Love"?
75 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 75 BPM.
When "Fooled By Love" works, and when it doesn't
Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.
✓
Focus / studying
Yes — low-variance volume, no surprises, steady tempo. The ideal study-music profile.
✗
Running / workout
No — 75 BPM is too slow for sustained cardio.
~
Sleep / winding down
Maybe — calm overall, but tempo is a bit high for deep sleep. Better for winding down than falling asleep.
✓
Driving / road trip
Yes — predictable enough for safe driving attention, interesting enough to stay engaged.
✓
Cooking / dinner background
Yes — sits in the background without demanding attention.
✓
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.
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
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 counterintuitive reason some heavy metal is safer than a Taylor Swift album
Not all loud music is unsafe. Not all quiet music is safe. How doom metal, drone, and sludge rock score better for sensory sensitivity than …
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.
This song in the Music Studio
12/100 intensity
See how “Fooled By Love” 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 99% of the 19,209 songs in the library. Its intensity reading of 12/100 comes from a dynamic range of 3/10, 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 an unusually steady, even volume: more extreme on that axis than 100% 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
Blue Bucket of Gold — Sufjan Stevens · 99%White as Snow — U2 · 99%Everything Is Free — Gillian Welch · 99%I've Been Let Down — Mazzy Star · 99%
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
Sleep10/10
Focus9/10
Workout0/10
Dinner6/10
Party / hype0/10
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
2020 in context
The 475 songs we’ve measured from 2020 average a dynamic range of 6.2/10. At 3/10, this track is gentler and steadier than its year.
Mixes smoothly with
Songbird — Fleetwood MacBlue Bucket of Gold — Sufjan StevensI Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You — Tom Waits
Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.
The fingerprint
Intensity12
Dynamics22
Tempo19
Surprise0
Density0
Predictability0
Vocal force25
Trigger load0
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "Fooled By Love"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Fooled By Love" by Mac DeMarco?
"Fooled By Love" by Mac DeMarco has a tempo of 75 BPM (Adagio (slow)). At half-time that is 38 BPM, and at double-time 150 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Fooled By Love" by Mac DeMarco?
"Fooled By Love" by Mac DeMarco rates as Low-Intensity. Dynamic range 3/10, no sudden changes, smooth texture. Our Low-Intensity rating means no single dimension triggers the higher-intensity thresholds.
How loud is "Fooled By Love" — what is its dynamic range?
"Fooled By Love" has a dynamic range of 3/10. This places it in the steady-volume band — loudness stays within a narrow window start to finish.
Does "Fooled By Love" have sudden or surprising changes?
No. "Fooled By Love" has no sudden unsignaled changes. Every transition is musically telegraphed.
What is "Fooled By Love" best for?
In our library "Fooled By Love" is recommended for: anxiety relief, meltdown recovery, relaxation. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Fooled By Love" released?
"Fooled By Love" is from 2020, on the album "One Wayne G". It appears in our 2020s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Fooled By Love"?
We tag "Fooled By Love" as introspective, 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 "Fooled By Love"?
The vocal style is soft vocals.
Is "Fooled By Love" good for running?
Not really — at 75 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Fooled By Love" good for studying?
Yes — low dynamic range (3/10) and no sudden changes means the song stays in the background without pulling focus.
Can I use "Fooled By Love" for sleep?
Yes — it clears every sleep-music criterion: low intensity, minimal dynamic range, no surprises. Use as a wind-down or sleep-playlist anchor.
Should I listen to "Fooled By Love"?
If you want gentle, low-arousal music, "Fooled By Love" 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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Where to next?
You know how this one feels — now go find the next one.