Suggestions of songs for an eclipse playlist soundtrack for your solar viewing party.
On Monday afternoon, the sun will be totally eclipsed by the moon. Going to an eclipse party or driving to a science museum for a watch party? We’ ve got your songs to have you dancing in the moonlight (or tapping your steering wheel) and celebrating nature’s wonder. We even appease health experts who caution against staring at the sun lest you get blinded by the light.
So what if we’ ll only see 72 percent of the eclipse in South Florida? This playlist is 100 percent eclipse-worthy. Set your playlist to shuffle on these:
Bonnie Tyler, “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” The Welsh singer plans to sing her 1983 epic on Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas at around 3 p.m. somewhere over the Bahamas, the Miami-based cruise line announced. She’ ll have to sing the nearly 7-minute, wordy tune fast. The eclipse lasts about 2: 40.
Pink Floyd, “Eclipse.” But, of course.
Iron Maiden, “Total Eclipse.” An obscure B-side to “Run From the Hills” from the 1982 LP, “The Number of the Beast.”
Cat Stevens, Moonshadow. Cat called it in 1970, during the Age of Aquarius. Hey, that’s another one…
The Fifth Dimension, “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.”
Katrina and the Waves, “Walking on Sunshine.”
Bruce Springsteen, “Dancing in the Dark.”
King Harvest, “Dancing in the Moonlight.”
Carly Simon, “You’ re So Vain.” For the guest who happens to be a self-absorbed, boastful ex-lover who flies his Learjet to Nova Scotia “to see the total eclipse of the sun.”
Soundgarden, “Black Hole Sun.” Bit of a downer with lines like, “Boiling heat, summer stench/’ neath the black the sky looks dead.”
Len, “Steal My Sunshine.” “I know it’s done for me/If you steal my sunshine.” The Canadian band ought not worry. The sun will be back before the song ends.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Bad Moon Rising.”
Pet Shop Boys, “Silver Age.” A 1999 B-side featured on the newly released “Nightlife: Further Listening” package. “Earthquakes predicted/And someday soon/A total eclipse of the sun and the moon.”
Smash Mouth, “Walkin’ on the Sun.” Got your eclipse watching sunglasses? Don’ t say Smash Mouth didn’ t warn you 20 years ago on this tune. “So don’t delay, act now, supplies are running out.”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “The Dark of the Sun.” “Into the dark of the sun /Will you save me a place/Give me hope, give me comfort /Get me to a better place.” The best place to see the full eclipse, scientists say, will be Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky. But we’ ll make due in Miami.
Bill Withers, “Ain’ t No Sunshine.” Just for a bit.
Death Cab for Cutie, “No Sunlight.” OK, in this one it’s the clouds that obscure the sun, but why quibble?
Elton John, “Don’ t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” It’s going to happen for a brief moment so don’ t “dizgard” this 1974 classic.
The Walker Brothers, “The Sun Ain’ t Gonna Shine No More.” The 1966 original. Or Neil Diamond’s 1979 cover. Or Cher’s 1996 cover.
James Taylor, “Circle’ Round the Sun.” For a quick cuddle. “Now, I love my baby, and she’s bound to love me some/… Now she throws her arms around me just like a circle around the sun.”
Way back in 1970, Beatle George Harrison warned, “Watch out now/Take care” on his haunting “Beware of Darkness” from his massive set, “All Things Must Pass.” Heed the late scribe’s warning, physicians say, if you happen to take TV on the Radio ’s “Staring at the Sun” or U2 ’s “Staring at the Sun” literally. Otherwise, the Manfred Mann’s Earth Band cover of Springsteen’s “Blinded by the Light” could be reality.
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