Bonnie Tyler ♪ Total Eclipse of the Heart

The wanting of a woman, and the beauty of masculinity.

• Title: Total Eclipse of the Heart
• Date: 1983
• Singer: Bonnie Taylor (born 1951)
• Lyrics: Jim Steinman
• Music: Jim Steinman

Lyrics

Note: The above diagram does not cover the complete lyrics. For example, it misses this line: “Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit restless and I dream of something wild”, and also “And if you'll only hold me tight”.

△ := Turnaround, every now and then

△ I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming around
△ I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears
△ I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by
△ I get a little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes
turnaround bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart
turnaround bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart

△ I get a little bit restless and I dream of something wild
△ I get a little bit helpless and I'm lying like a child in your arms
△ I get a little bit angry and I know I've got to get out and cry
△ I get a little bit terrified but then I see the look in your eyes
turnaround bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart
turnaround bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart

▲1 :=
And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever

And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong
Together we can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time

I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight

▲2 :=
Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart

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

turnaround bright eyes
turnaround bright eyes
△ I know you'll never be the boy you always you wanted to be
△ I know you'll always be the only boy who wanted me the way that I am
△ I know there's no one in the universe as magical and wonderous as you
△ I know there's nothing any better and there's nothing that I just wouldn't do
turnaround bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart
turnaround bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart

▲1
▲2

Parody

(Pan the room.)
Random use of candles, empty bottles, and cloth,
and can you see me through this fan?
(Slo-mo dove.)
Creepy doll, a window, and what looks like a bathrobe.
Then, a dim-lit shot of dangling balls.

(Metaphor?)
Close-up of some candles, and dramatically posing.
Then, stock footage of a moon in the sky.
(Bottle shot.)
Messing up my close-up with a floating blue curtain.
Now, let's see who's coming in from outside.

(Double doors open.)
Why aren't I reacting in this shot?
(Ringo Starr? Lined eyes.)
Guess I should be acting, but I'm  not.

(Doors ajar.)
Wander through a hall with doors that magically open,
and this classroom has a fan.
(Open shirts.)
Now it's getting creepy.
You can tell by my staring,
it's a long time since I've been with a man.

(Stupid chair.)
Emo Kid is throwing Slo-Mo Dove at my face.
I guess that means that he just flipped me the bird.
(Locker room.)
Staring at the swim team gets you killed by a gang
of dancing ninja men who know how to twirl.

(Spin around. Ninjas!)
Then, a bunch of preppies make a toast.
(Drinking wine. Douchebags!)
Most of it just ends up on the floor.

And they shouldn't fence at night
or they're gonna hurt the gymnasts.
Why do they play football inside?
Here's another shot of fencing.
And I've mostly been lit from behind.
Watch these shadows run off.

I walk onto a terrace where I think I'm  alone.
But Arthur Fonzarelli's got an army of clones.
(Fonzie's been cloned!)
They do the Macarena,
but I'm  still not impressed.
They beg for me to dance with them,
but not in this dress!
I'll pose like Rocky tonight!
I'm  running up a bunch of stairs.
(Strip football, and surprise mirror!)

Here's where I pretend to be Eva Peron.
Look at me, I'm  lifting my arms.
There's nothing else to shoot,
so zoom camera under this arch.
Leaning on myself, because there's two of me here.
But now there's only one on this shot.
I pull my feathered hair
whenever I see floating cloth.

[
F: oh oh, i got to use the bathroom but the door is locked. Can you help me?
M: i'll open the door for you
F: or thank you sir, how can i ever repay you
M: how about a towel

Boys: hey guys check this out …
(brouhaha)
]

(Blind possessed choir boys.)
Get out of my way! I've gotta pee!
(Zombie cult!)
Never mind. I just went on the floor!

Now I need to find a mop!
(Look at me now!)
Emo Kid wears too much makeup.
Now, watch a bunch of half-naked guys
(Hairless chests.)
As they dance around in diapers.
And I've joined the Glee Club of the Damned.
(Reference joke!)
Look, the fog machine's on!

What kind of private school would let in these kind of guys?
It started out as Hogwarts,
now it's Lord of the Flies!
(I hated that book.)
I'm  swaying side to side.
These dancers need to stop.
The gayest man on earth would call this over the top!
I whip my head to the right!
I'll never go to church again.
(I think I lost a contact lens.)

When did spazzing out qualify as a dance?
Kneeling like I want to throw up.
What the effing crap?
That angel guy just felt me up!
Here's a line of guys. I was wearing a dress.
But now they've got me wearing a suit.
(One kid's running late.
I think he's too young for this school.)

I'm  totally shaking his hand.
(Mullet with headlights?
Over-surprised guy.
Weirded out…)

Go thru and understand all the slangs, allusions, references. This “literal video” parody made the meaning of the song much clear. Parodies, and comics, usually capture the real world observations, pop culture, as they are, because in order to make people laugh, you have to be real. (as opposed to what academicians, politicians, activists, feminists, grammarians, want to tell you how the world is with their theories.)

The parody version has several slangs. “effing”, “felt me up”, “weirded out”. I think they started as teen girl slangs.