A once in many centuries event requires a playlist to match! To celebrate the historic total solar eclipse, we put together a collection of songs to put you in an ‘eclipsed’ state of mind!
Pink Floyd – “Eclipse”
Jack Anderson – Song of the Day Producer
Sure, it’s right there in the title, but it’s also the cathartic crescendo that closes out Pink Floyd’s classic, Dark Side of the Moon. It’ll be tough not to feel like a true Star Child during totality, especially when this track hits its’ final phrase ‘the sun is eclipsed by the moon’.
The Ventures – “Twilight Zone”
Maile Carballo – Web Producer
From 1:36-1:38pm, Austin, TX will enter a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the patchouli hipsters of old Austin and of one of man’s greatest fears- Silicon Valley bros.
Soundgarden – “Black Hole Sun”
Rene Chavez – Audio Engineer
Despite being mildly overplayed, it’s a great song and the title’s kind of a play on words for eclipse. Fun fact: Cornell (RIP) started with the title first and then wrote the lyrics around it; dark and lamenting lyrics…but its also encoded with good juju about keeping the rain away from Eclipse day. So there’s that.
Richard Strauss – “Also spracht Zarathustra”
Peter Babb – Digital Content Manager
I’m equal parts terrified and excited to witness this once in a lifetime celestial event. The logical, science loving part of me is ready to be amazed, while my lizard brain is screaming at me to kiss the family goodbye and crawl under a rock. The perfect length for totality, the initial fanfare of Richard Strauss’s 1896 tone poem, Also sprach Zarathustra, comes close to capturing my dueling sense of wonder and existential dread. It also made for a pretty good opening to a certain classic sci-fi film.
Lila Downs – “Uno Muerte (iin anu kuu ia ni knatii)“
Jacquie Fuller – Assistant Program Director
For this eclipse, I offer you this traditional Mixtec ode to the sun deity by Mexican artist Lila Downs. Eclipses are a big deal for everybody, but for the people of ancient Mexico, they were a REALLY BIG DEAL. We know this from the handful of books (or codices) not destroyed by Spanish colonialists, which contained tables predicting eclipses hundreds of years into the future. It feels pretty cool to know that I’m descended from such great minds, and the eclipse feels like a time to draw inward and spiritually connect with my ancestors (who we will absolutely not inform that I am still doing math at a second-grade level.)
Hozier – “Sunlight“
Sarah Benavides – KUTX Intern
The emotional intensity of this song is more than an equivalent for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. However, I think listening to this song at the peak of the eclipse would send me into shock, so we’ll see.
(이달의 소녀/LOONA) Kim Lip – “Eclipse“
Diego Artea – KUTX Intern
A bit of a different pick, Kim Lip of Loona’s ‘Eclipse’ provides an upbeat, sensual, R&B/pop dance track with a great synth and bassline and is topped off with Kim Lip’s smoothly flowing vocals. She sings of a destined ‘eclipse’ between her and a lover. “In the shaded shadows where you and I meet. It happened [fatefully]. The love which is lighted by [the] mind of us. Come closer to me. This is Eclipse.
Charles Lloyd – “Beyond Darkness”
Jeff McCord – Music Editor
This slice of hippie flute tranquility seems a perfect soundtrack to the celestial mysteries ahead. Octagenarian Lloyd sets a mood of wonder, on a track that shows up on his latest album, The Sky Will Still Be There. Really, are you sure?
