‘Turn around, bright eyes’: ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ is the definitive solar eclipse viewing song
If you’re looking for a playlist to accompany your solar eclipse viewing on Monday, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better song than Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
The 1983 hit ballad, powered by Tyler’s raspy vocals, is the top song added to eclipse-themed playlists on Spotify in the U.S., the streaming service recently confirmed to The New York Post.
“Every time the eclipse comes around, it’s a bit crazy,” Tyler told The New York Post. “They send me all these stats all the time, and it’s always amazing.”
As millions of people prepare for a rare total solar eclipse viewing on Monday — the next one in the contiguous U.S. is in 2044, per CBS News — here’s a look at the song’s success and the latest in Tyler’s career.
About ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” wasn’t Tyler’s first hit, but it marked a new direction for the Welsh singer.
Before “Total Eclipse,” Tyler was firmly planted in the country-rock genre.
“It’s a Heartache” — one of the first songs Tyler recorded following a surgery that ended up giving her vocals a husky quality, according to The Guardian — hit No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1978. But in the early 1980s, Tyler wanted to go in a more rock-driven direction. Specifically, she wanted to work with Jim Steinman, the late composer and lyricist who helped craft Meat Loaf’s theatrical “Bat out of Hell” album, per Time magazine.
The pair met in Steinman’s New York apartment, where he tested the possibility of a collaboration by gauging Tyler’s reaction to two of his favorite songs: Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” and Blue Oyster Cult’s “Goin’ Through the Motions,” Time magazine reported.
Tyler apparently passed the test, so Steinman agreed to work with her. The collaboration led to the album “Faster Than the Speed of Night,” which included covers of Steinman’s two favorite songs, and the career-defining “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
“Total Eclipse” spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 following its release, and spent 29 weeks total on the chart, USA Today reported. It became Billboard’s No. 6 song of 1983, and was Grammy-nominated for best female pop vocal performance in 1984, according to The New York Post.
Thanks to its enduring popularity, the song hit 1 billion views on YouTube last year, per The New York Post.
For radio purposes, Steinman shaved a few minutes off of the original song length. But the music video — featuring doves, ninjas and choir boys with glowing eyes — manages to pack a lot in five and a half minutes.
“It was freezing cold and I had to run barefoot through the snow. It was very hard for one to do. But it was incredible,” Tyler told the CBC radio show “Day 6.” “I had total faith in Jim’s storyboards. I don’t know where his mind was; his ideas were incredible.”
Steinman, who died in 2021, also wrote “Holding Out for a Hero,” which became Tyler’s last top 40 hit, peaking at No. 34 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1984.
What else is Bonnie Tyler up to?
It’s a busy season for Tyler — and not just because of the total solar eclipse.
The singer has a new album, “In Berlin,” releasing April 19, according to her official website.
Last year, she embarked on a tour celebrating 40 years of “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and released the memoir “Straight from the Heart.” In the last few years, she’s also released a pair of albums: 2019′s “Between the Earth and the Stars” and 2021′s “The Best is Yet to Come.”
In 2022, Tyler was honored with a Member of the Order of the British Empire award for her contributions to music, People reported.
