Soundtrack for the eclipse
There’s a (not so little) black spot on the sun today.
In the Bay Area, the moon is scheduled to begin covering our view of the sun at 9:01 a.m. Monday, Aug. 21, for a celestial phenomenon that hasn’t occurred in nearly 130 years. By 10:15 a.m., 76 percent of the sun will be blocked in a partial eclipse.
It may not be a total eclipse for us — viewers can catch that near the coastal Oregon town of Lincoln Beach before it moves on to Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia before heading out to sea near Charleston, S.C. — but that doesn’t mean you can’t blast Bonnie Tyler’s hit (the singer plans to perform her 1983 hit, “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” during the eclipse on a Royal Caribbean Cruise) and other tunes to celebrate the rare sight.
The Chronicle Datebook team has created a playlist of several eclipse-ready songs, from Bill Withers to Pink Floyd to Outside Lands music festival veterans Belle & Sebastian, Radiohead and Survive. Here are five of our favorites:
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler
There is almost no actual science in this song — Tyler uses the word “eclipse” to describe her heartbreak, not the obscuring of light when one celestial body passes by another. But she’s singing it on the cruise, which is awesome. And (turn around …) we all know the words. “Eclipse” by Pink Floyd
“And all that is now/ And all that is gone/ And all that’s to come/ And everything under the sun is in tune/ But the sun is eclipsed by the moon” is the perfect sentiment for the darkest point of the eclipse. In fact, putting the 1973 album “Dark Side of the Moon” on shuffle is a safe bet. Medicate yourself as needed. “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers
A song about fighting alcoholism, this 1971 hit has a contemplative groove that goes well with any important life moment, including when you’re — safely, with proper protective gear — looking at a once-in-a-generation celestial event. “How to Disappear Completely” by Radiohead
No doubt Thom Yorke and the band didn’t think about eclipses once when they wrote this lovely and moody song for “Kid A” in 2000, but the plaintive lyrics still fit perfectly: “In a little while/ I’ll be gone/ The moment’s already passed/ Yeah it’s gone.” “Why Does the Sun Really Shine?” by They Might Be Giants
Full title “Why Does the Sun Really Shine? (The Sun Is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma),” this catchy They Might Be Giants song from the 2009 kid-friendly album “Here Comes Science” is crammed with educational bits. It’s two minutes long, and you basically walk away with a doctorate in astronomy.