9 perfect songs for your Total Solar Eclipse soundtrack in Dallas

In case you missed it, the Total Solar Eclipse is coming on April 8, and the fervor is rising. Texas is going to be one of the best places in the U.S. to see it, with dark skies set to besiege cities such as Dallas for up to four minutes. Everyone's getting ready, from venues across Texas to Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants and bars, to hotels and campgrounds offering a place to stay.

The only missing link is the soundtrack. What kind of celestial music will provide the most fitting backdrop for this once-in-a-lifetime event? You need the right kind of themed songs, which can be grouped into two categories:

• Songs with clever titles that reference the sun or the moon
• Songs with a sweeping atmospheric nature that can imbue four minutes of darkness in the middle of the day with the proper degree of gravitas

Beyond the opportunity to make another pioneering list, a feat for which CultureMap has become known, this exercise provides a chance to get acquainted with music you may not have heard of, which is more than likely since some of these songs are o-l-d.

Here's our list of suggested songs to play during the Total Solar Eclipse, in alphabetical order:

Ain't No Sunshine, Bill Withers, 1971
Singer-songwriter Withers was famously working in a factory making bathrooms for 747s when he wrote this song, which became a huge hit. It's cool the way it starts out simple, just Withers' voice and guitar, then strings come in to give it a celestial, eclipse-worthy sweep. The lyrics are basic, but peak with the passage where he repeats "I know I know I know" 26 times in a 10-second span without pause.

All The Stars, Kendrick Lamar with SZA, 2018
Collaboration between rapper Kendrick Lamar and singer SZA is a breathtaking back-and-forth between Lamar's cool treated vocals and SZA's soulful, soaring tones, set over a jittery beat with little sci-fi pops that fit the eclipse milieu to a T. The lyrics seem to be about a severed romance but all you need to know is that they chant the line "All the stars are closer" 18 times, and it's impossible not to chime in.

Bad Moon Rising, Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1969
This song was one of CCR's biggest hits, and it has a funny disconnect: The music is chipper and upbeat, but the lyrics are apocalyptic, predicting doom and gloom. Ancient civlizations used to view eclipses with fear and awe, before astronomers discovered they were predictable. So there's your very loose eclipse tie-in, but this song makes the list mostly for the song title.

Black Hole Sun, Soundgarden, 1994
One of the Seattle rock band's best songs, "Black Hole Sun" was a departure from their usual grunge sound. Singer-songwriter Chris Cornell said that it was "grasping for some kind of hope out of depression or feeling sort of lost or sad." The moody, psychedelic quality of the music and the "impressionistic" lyrics - IE they don't need to make sense - make it a perfect song for an eclipse.

Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler, 1983
This 80s staple may be corny and melodramatic but you can't leave it out on any eclipse list, not with that dead-on title. Here's a fun fact: The song sees a spike in interest during every eclipse, most recently 2021 when Tyler observed it on Twitter, saying, ""Notifications are blowing up.*checks news* Ah. There's an eclipse." She even sang it on a cruise ship during an eclipse in 2017.

Total Eclipse of the Sun, Don McLean, 2018
Kinda drippy song which seems to be about being dumbstruck by a girl is a sweet effort by Don McLean, most famous for his 1971 song, "American Pie." The old dude is still writing songs. That said, it's on this list for the title and the title alone.

Also Sprach Zarathustra, Richard Strauss, 1896
Classical music piece written by composer Richard Strauss in 1896 became hugely famous after it was used masterfully in the 1968 Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey. It's since become a common go-to soundtrack in popular culture when you want to tease a momentous event and has been used for space-related scenes. If there's any music associated with outer space, this is it.

Watcher of the Skies, Genesis, 1972
Song by British prog-rock band Genesis came out during their prime era, when they still had singer Peter Gabriel and drummer Phil Collins. It wasn't their best-known, but it is nontheless a sprawling 7-minute-plus masterpiece with abrupt shifts in tempo, classic prog-rock instrumentation like Mellotron and flute, and Collins' killer drums. It makes the list both because of the pertinent title and also, it's just a great song.

Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd, 1973
This concept album with universal themes by rock band Pink Floyd was the fourth-best selling album in history, and has also spent more time on the charts than any other album in history. There's the name of the album. The prism album cover. The final track called "Eclipse." Really, just play this album.