Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather gather in the shadows to overthink Bonnie Tyler’s hit song “Total Eclipse of the Heart” for no particular reason.
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Episode 477: Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight
On the Overthinking It Podcast, we tackle Bonnie Tyler’s hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
6 Comments on “Episode 477: Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight”
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Well actually, Brittany Spears meets an astronaut on Mars in Oops… I Did It Again. She doesn’t go to the moon in any videos or leave the earth in Baby One More Time.
;)
They’re basically the same song.
Towards the end of the Podcast, you guys discuss whether an eclipse is a singular event or a relationship between two different objects. WELL ACTUALLY, an eclipse is an event that involves a relationship between THREE different objects. You need:
1) A light source
2) An illuminated surface
3) An object which passes between the two, casting a large shadow to block the light source
What’s annoying is that when we talk about an “eclipse of the [noun]” we’re not consistent in our usage. In an “eclipse of the sun” the light source is the thing eclipsed (i.e. (1)). In an “eclipse of the moon” the illuminated source is the thing eclipsed (i.e. (2)). I guess what defines it which object the *observer* is standing on. If the observer is on the illuminated surface, then we’re talking about an eclipse of a [light source]. If the observer is on the object blocking the light, then we’re talking about an eclipse of an [illuminated surface].
So a total eclipse of the heart could be
(1) The heart is the light source, and some dark object is blocking the observer (presumably Bonnie Tyler) from getting the warmth and heat from it.
(2) The heart is the TARGET of light, and the observer is on an object blocking the light from reaching the source.
I think (1) makes more sense in the context of the song: the heart relies on love to survive, and some object is standing between the heart and love.
I think there’s another interpretation to the description of “bright eyes” vis a vis an eclipse. In this case, the person’s eyes function like the sun’s corona. The corona is the sun’s outermost layer, which is usually not visible because of its relative dimness compared to the rest of the sun. But it can be seen during a total eclipse of the sun.
So, during most non-eclipse moments the eyes’ light is obscured by the brightness of the heart’s. But, during the total eclipse of the heart, the dimmer, strangely colored, more diffuse light of the eyes can be seen.
I just caught up (office deadline). What surprised me most was no mention of the “Literal Version” of the music video, the one that brought us the short-lived meme: “mullet with headlights”.
These are really interesting interpretations of the song. I read on Wikipedia that Steinman had intended the song to be about vampires. I’m not sure that provides any more clarity. I only listened to about 30 minutes in, but I’m surprised no one mentioned the imagery or reference to the sun in “King of Pain” by The Police.