"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Motion Sickness" by Phoebe Bridgers. Noticeable climb from quiet to loud. 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."
Easy, low-key calm, right in the middle of 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for focus.
115
BPM
Motion Sickness by Phoebe Bridgers is 115 BPM — Moderato (moderate).
Half-time 58 BPM · Double-time 230 BPM · released 2017
Fan image for "Motion Sickness"
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 indie folk arrangement with ethereal, smooth vocals and subtle swells that create a calm, introspective atmosphere without harsh or abrasive elements. Minimalist production emphasizes emotional depth over intensity, making it soothing for sensitive listeners.
Misophonia Triggers
Recommended for: anxiety relief deep listening relaxation
Indie folk song about emotional turmoil from an abusive relationship, featuring confessional lyrics delivered in Phoebe Bridgers' soft, dejected vocal style over entrancing melodies.
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Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: introspective, melancholy, reflective
Traditions: indie folk
At a glance
"Motion Sickness" by Phoebe Bridgers
115 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: mild. There are one or two transitions worth knowing about, though they're musically resolved rather than surprise-driven.
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 Phoebe Bridgers's catalog
We have 26 songs from Phoebe Bridgers in the library. Of those, 14 are rated Safe, 12 Moderate, and 0 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 6/10 sits above the artist average of 4.9, making it the #6 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Other tracks from Stranger in the Alps
We have 9 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans safe in sensory profile.
- Funeral — moderate DR 6
- Smoke Signals — safe DR 4
- Scott Street — safe DR 4
- Georgia — safe DR 6
- Chelsea — safe DR 4
- Would You Rather — safe DR 4
- You Missed My Heart — moderate DR 5
- Demi Moore — moderate DR 4
2017 context
Released in 2017. We have 461 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.0/10. This track is about average than the year average. Explore more from the 2010s.
Explore by mood and tradition
Traditions
indie folk · 245Guides that may help
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 "Motion Sickness"?
115 BPM — Upbeat (dance-pop / running warm-up)
For running
Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.
For workouts
Steady cardio, power walking, light weights.
For daily life
Cooking, casual listening, cleaning, dinner music.
Browse more songs at 115 BPM.
When "Motion Sickness" works, and when it doesn't
Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.
~
Focus / studying
Maybe — fine for routine work, but the mid-song changes may pull attention during deep focus.
~
Running / workout
Maybe — at 115 BPM this is more warm-up or cool-down pace than peak-effort running.
✗
Sleep / winding down
No — contains elements that will keep an awake nervous system engaged.
✓
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.
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
Phoebe Bridgers' albums sorted by how much they devastate you
A structural ranking of Phoebe Bridgers' discography by emotional gravity — Stranger in the Alps, Punisher, Better Oblivion, and Boygenius's…
Every Phoebe Bridgers album, ranked by how slowly it ruins your day
From Stranger in the Alps to Punisher to boygenius — how each Phoebe Bridgers record paces the damage, and which one fits your nervous syste…
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
33/100 intensity
See how “Motion Sickness” 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 22% of songs, calmer than the other 78%. Its intensity reading of 33/100 comes from a dynamic range of 6/10, smooth texture, mild 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 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
I Can't Give Everything Away — David Bowie · 99%Lonely Weekend — Kacey Musgraves · 99%Way Out West — Big Star · 99%Inside Out — Spoon · 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
Sleep6/10
Focus10/10
Workout2/10
Dinner8/10
Party / hype4/10
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
2017 in context
The 461 songs we’ve measured from 2017 average a dynamic range of 6.0/10. 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
Intensity33
Dynamics56
Tempo42
Surprise25
Density0
Predictability0
Vocal force25
Trigger load0
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "Motion Sickness"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Motion Sickness" by Phoebe Bridgers?
"Motion Sickness" by Phoebe Bridgers has a tempo of 115 BPM (Moderato (moderate)). At half-time that is 58 BPM, and at double-time 230 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Motion Sickness" by Phoebe Bridgers?
"Motion Sickness" by Phoebe Bridgers rates as Low-Intensity. Dynamic range 6/10, mild sudden changes, smooth texture. Our Low-Intensity rating means no single dimension triggers the higher-intensity thresholds.
How loud is "Motion Sickness" — what is its dynamic range?
"Motion Sickness" 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 "Motion Sickness" have sudden or surprising changes?
"Motion Sickness" has mild sudden changes — one or two transitions worth knowing about, but they are musically resolved rather than surprise-driven.
What is "Motion Sickness" best for?
In our library "Motion Sickness" is recommended for: anxiety relief, deep listening, relaxation. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Motion Sickness" released?
"Motion Sickness" is from 2017, on the album "Stranger in the Alps". It appears in our 2010s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Motion Sickness"?
We tag "Motion Sickness" 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 "Motion Sickness"?
The vocal style is soft vocals.
Is "Motion Sickness" good for running?
Not really — at 115 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Motion Sickness" 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 "Motion Sickness" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Contains transitions that will wake you up.
Should I listen to "Motion Sickness"?
If you want gentle, low-arousal music, "Motion Sickness" 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.