80s Rock & Metal Anthems
"Total Eclipse of the Heart"
Turn around, bright eyes, for Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart"! This epic 1983 Pop Rock power ballad is pure 80s drama and intensity. Produced by Jim Steinman, its soaring vocals, theatrical arrangement, and unforgettable chorus made it a massive global #1 hit and a defining love song.
- TITLE: Total Eclipse of the Heart
- CATEGORY: All Time Favorite Music
- BAND: Bonnie Tyler
- GENRE: Pop Rock
- OTHER: Love Song
- YEAR: 1983
Released in 1983 on Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler's album Faster Than the Speed of Night, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" became her biggest career hit worldwide. Written and produced by the legendary Jim Steinman, known for his work with Meat Loaf, the song perfectly exemplifies his operatic Pop Rock style – a quintessential power ballad with dramatic structure and emotional weight.
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" was a monumental worldwide smash in 1983, topping charts everywhere and boosted by its iconic, highly theatrical music video directed by Russell Mulcahy. Bonnie Tyler's raw, powerful vocal performance is unforgettable. The song remains a defining power ballad of the 1980s, a dramatic love song exploring consuming passion and intense romantic longing.
SONG MEANING: Stemming from Jim Steinman's work on a vampire musical concept, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" uses dramatic imagery to describe an all-consuming, potentially dangerous love. Lyrics like "Every now and then I fall apart" and needing love "more than ever" depict intense longing and vulnerability, suggesting a love so powerful it eclipses everything else, bordering on obsession or desperation.
