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4. Will Oldham: “I See a Darkness”
If you’re looking for a moody and vaguely gothic eclipse soundtrack, I recommend this subtle, stirring ballad by the folk singer-songwriter Will Oldham, who often records as Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Though Johnny Cash popularized the song when he covered it on his 2000 album, “American III: Solitary Man,” I’m partial to the cracked beauty of the original.
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5. Cat Stevens: “Moonshadow”
Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) said that this song came to him one night on vacation in Spain, when the moon was particularly bright. But, technically, this song’s title could describe a solar eclipse, which occurs, according to NASA, when “the Moon casts a shadow on the Earth, and blocks or partially blocks our view of the Sun.”
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6. John Cale: “Big White Cloud”
Though it’s about a different kind of sky phenomenon, everything feels like a slow-motion reverie when this track from John Cale’s 1970 solo debut, “Vintage Violence,” is playing. “The sound of sun, piercing my eyes,” Cale sings. “Everything’s clear, everything’s bright.”
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7. TV on the Radio: “Staring at the Sun”
On this single from the 2004 album “Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes,” the Brooklyn band TV on the Radio describes exactly what you should not do during a solar eclipse — unless you have special glasses or a homemade pinhole projector.
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8. Julianna Barwick: “Sunlight, Heaven”
Finally, from her dreamlike 2009 EP, “Florine,” Julianna Barwick’s ethereal composition helps you welcome the light back into your life. Here comes the sun indeed!
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