Last Monday, the 2024 Solar Eclipse loomed large over Northeastern Ohio, both figuratively and literally. At 2:00 p.m., snacks were being given out by vendors on the JCU Hamlin Quadrangle as ‘eclipse chips’. At the same time, glasses from almost every store or scientific organization in Cleveland could be found for free, sported by JCU Students.

While waiting, even though the cosmic conundrum that would not come back to America for roughly 20 years, was the music.

Whether on TikTok, Instagram or BeReal’s brand-new music feature, most pictures I saw of the eclipse were accompanied by some song. I was biased and listened to “Blinded By the Light,” the famous tune from “Greetings From Ashbury Park” by Bruce Springsteen, but there were a plethora of options to choose from.

The Caroll hit of the day, sung by the John Carroll Swim Team, seemed to be “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler, which was queued perfectly to the totality of the eclipse, according to Aidan Hulseman ‘25, a student and swimmer.

Though these songs, as well as the whole of “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd, overshadowed the day, a popular playlist by Space.com provided even more totality tunes. The whole 4-hour setlist included favorites such as “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone,” “Moondance,” “Space Oddity,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “Dark Star” and “Fly Me to the Moon,” along with the songs already discussed above. Users who saved the playlist liked it 20,209 times in the handful of days it was released before the eclipse.

Though there were certain musts to be played, there was one clear winner. According to Uproxx, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” jumped by the far-off thousands in the U.S. Daily Charts on Spotify to number 36 in the entirety of the county. Being that only a cross-section of America, from a thin line across Texas to Ohio could see totality, it’s telling to catch how much of a hit Bonnie Tyler’s masterpiece was on Monday.

When asked about hearing her song over and over again, when talking to Good Morning America, Tyler stated “Every time the eclipse comes, everyone all over the world, they play ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ and I never get tired of singing it.”

So, with all this in mind, why am I talking about the eclipse and music? Simply because in the words of Jay Wood and John Denver, “Music has the power to inspire us, to heal us and to bring us together”. Throughout all my life, I’ve loved music, and seen how people of dozens of different genres use it to come together. Broadly, Cleveland and John Carroll have done the same, just with the background of the eclipse.

Simply, Christmas has its music, dominated by carols, St. Patrick’s Day has the Dropkick Murphys and Halloween seems to forever be linked to either “Thriller” or “Spooky, Scary Skeletons.” When we celebrate we like to sing, dance, laugh or just show our emotions. During this cosmic event, perhaps unique in our lifetimes, no wonder many John Carroll students were doing what humans do all the time: sing.