The Hidden History Behind “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” by Bonnie Tyler

Growing up, I was always curious about Bonnie Tyler’s hit “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”. Especially the lyric, “turn around, bright eyes.” While ballads of the 1980s were typically dramatic, the drama here feels more intense than in a standard pop song. So let’s investigate what Tyler is singing about and to whom she’s addressing it.

An Origin Story

“Total Eclipse Of The Heart” has its DNA in Jim Steinman’s rock musical, The Dream Engine. Steinman wrote the musical during his senior year at Amherst College, and the above-mentioned lyric originated there. Turn around, bright eyes. This was 1969.

Then, Steinman composed the score for the 1980 film A Small Circle Of Friends. One of the score’s melodies later appears in Tyler’s power ballad.

(Turn around) Every now and then, I get a little bit lonely,
And you’re never coming ’round.
(Turn around) Every now and then, I get a little bit tired,
Of listening to the sound of my tears.

Three years later, Tyler released “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”. It was a smash for the Welsh singer, who had met Steinman in 1982. They bonded over a shared admiration for Phil Spector’s wall of sound. The song appears on Tyler’s fifth studio album, Faster Than The Speed Of Light.

(Turn around) Every now and then, I get a little bit restless,
And I dream of something wild.
(Turn around) Every now and then, I get a little bit helpless,
And I’m lying like a child in your arms.

Who’s the Other Voice

Tyler’s hit features a call-and-response vocal arrangement. That always struck me, too. It’s a duet, sort of. Rory Dodd recorded the repeating “turn-arounds”. It feels ghostlike to me. More drama, surreal, with its meaning slightly obscured, just like the title’s eclipse.

Then, “Forever’s gonna start tonight.” A better future, hope. There’s something behind the eclipse. A shadowy figure lurks. It speaks to the awkwardness of falling in love but also the anxiety over running out of time.

Are we talking about vampires here? The kind of creature that must avoid the sun.

Once upon a time, there was light in my life,
But now there’s only love in the dark.
Nothing I can say,
A total eclipse of the heart.

Photo by Suzie Gibbons/Redferns