D major · Camelot 10B · 128 BPM
Nightmare
by Avenged Sevenfold
- 128
- BPM
- D major
- Key
- 10B
- Camelot
- 56
- Danceability
- 1
- Acousticness
Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, Avenged Sevenfold's drummer, wrote most of the drum parts for "Nightmare" before his death on December 28, 2009. The song became the band's first single released without him, arriving on May 18, 2010 as the lead single for their fifth studio album of the same name. Mike Portnoy handled the recording, though he chose not to appear in the music video, feeling it would be wrong given that The Rev had written most of the drums for the album.
The single sold over 23,000 units in its first day and was the No. 1 most added track at Active Rock radio in the US during one week of May 2010. It went on to become the most radio played rock song of 2010 with over 35,000 spins, and was later certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA. Lyrically, the song is sung from the point of view of a resident of hell who mocks a damned soul, pointing out that his own wrongdoings put him there.
Wayne Isham directed the music video, filmed at Linda Vista Community Hospital in Los Angeles. It drew on Jacob's Ladder, one of The Rev's favorite movies, and showed M. Shadows strapped to a gurney being wheeled past his bandmates while the last drum kit The Rev toured with, from the City of Evil era, appeared with a light behind it, morphed into his figure. Fans also spotted his face hidden on the single and album cover.
Nightmare runs at 128 BPM, the tempo of house, disco and most club dance music. In classical terms it sits in allegro territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 1.88 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 469 ms. It is in D major, Camelot 10B, which shares its notes with B minor and mixes cleanly with G major and A major.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.