Music Tuesday: Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler

I tried to get a good photograph of yesterday’s solar eclipse but I was unsuccessful.  If you live in a cocoon and don’t know, yesterday we in the United States had a total solar eclipse.  I tried to get photograph but I could not get any of the solar eclipse worthy glasses that I could use to filter out the radiation, ultra violet light, and infrared rays.  You can read about such glasses here.  

In 2017, the last solar eclipse in the local area, I was able to use the glasses over my camera phone and filter out the obscuring rays.  Yesterday I tried taking pictures with just the phone—I pointed the phone in the general direction of the sun without looking into it and snapped—but all I got was a ball of flame with some weird rays or odd shaped sun.  Here are some examples.  These have all been photo edited to try to make distinct the passing moon.

 

I think there is a passing object in front of the sun, but it’s not very distinct.  If you want to see the neat pictures I took of the solar eclipse in 2017, I shared them on this blog post.  

If you want to see video of yesterday's actual, full solar eclipse you can see it in this YouTube clip.

 

All this eclipse talk reminded me of a song by Bonnie Tyler, “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”   Tyler has a very distinct husky voice, which I think perfectly fits what this might be called a torch song.  The voice exudes the pain of the subject. 

A little history on “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”  It was a song written by Jim Steinman, who was the composer of most of those great songs that the performer Meat Loaf recorded.   Steinman composed lots of great hits, but “Total Eclipse of the Heart may be his biggest.  I think it was so big because of the perfectly sung performance from Bonnie Tyler.  Her distinct voice elevates this song to something special.  According to Meat Loaf, he was supposed to record the song but the deal with Steinman fell through.  He might have done a fine job singing it, but I can’t imagine it would have been better than Bonnie’s performance.

 

The song was recorded in 1983, spending four weeks on the charts as number one.  I did not know Bonnie Tyler is Welch.  Her voice sounds so American country.  Some lyrics.  

 

Once upon a time, I was falling in love

But now I'm only falling apart

There's nothing I can do

A total eclipse of the heart

Once upon a time, there was light in my life

But now there's only love in the dark

Nothing I can say

A total eclipse of the heart

It’s just a wonderful song.

Photo Essay: Pictures from Yesterday’s Solar Eclipse

Yesterday was the great Solar Eclipse of 2017 across the United States.  here were others who took much better pictures, but I did capture these.  The first is holding the Solar Eclipse Sun glasses over the lens, filtering out the ultra-violet and infrared light.  The second is using just natural, unobscured, unfiltered lens.  I think these were snapped about 20 to 30 minutes before max obscuration, which was only about 70% here.  I tried to take it at max obscuration but my hand kept shaking every time I snapped.  These two were the best pictures I took.

If you want to see some professional pictures, you can go to NASA’s website.    

Poetry: “An Eclipse” by Dora Sigerson Shorter

I’ve never heard of Dora Sigerson Shorter, but I came across this little poem which makes good reading for today, the day of the Solar Eclipse of 2017.  I came across it at American Literature.Com, which also features an essay by James Fenimore Cooper, “The Eclipse,” on his experience witnessing the June 16, 1806 solar eclipse. 

It’s actually a nice little poem and I think it’s referencing all the anxiety that come with eclipses over the end of the earth.

An Eclipse

by Dora Sigerson Shorter

Let there be an end

And all be done;

Pass over, fair eclipse,

That hides the sun.

Dear face that shades the light

And shadows me,

Begone, and give me peace,

And set me free.

Interersting she titles it, An and not The Eclipse.  Perhaps she is suggesting more than just the solar event.

Well, I’m going to try to watch the eclipse this afternoon.  We are only get about a 70% eclipse in the New York area.  Be careful and follow the safety precautions if you will be outside.  It happens between two and three o’clock this afternoon here.