Today, April 8, the United States experienced a total solar eclipse for the first time in seven years and the last for 20 years.
Fifteen states in the U.S. have areas which fell within the path of totality of the event: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont. The eclipse began around noon in Texas before heading towards the Northeast.
NASA even offered an "eclipse explorer" to figure out when the eclipse will be reaching its totality in a specific area.
Some space enthusiasts across the United States enjoyed the rare solar event with a funky and fun soundtrack accompanying their viewing: Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. The album is widely considered one of the best rock albums of all time and has appeared on Rolling Stone's "Great Albums of All Time" list multiple times. The album spent 741 weeks on the charts from 1973 to 1988 and has sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
The hit record concludes with a track aptly titled "Eclipse." Fans had multiple options: to sync the full album with the space event or to sync the song "Eclipse" itself.
Fans who listened to the entirety of The Dark Side of the Moon finished out the eclipse with the magnificent line "And everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon." Listeners needed to start the album 41 minutes and 53 seconds before their area's respective total eclipse.
Those who listened to only "Eclipse" needed to start the song 70 seconds before the totality began.
The Dark Side of the Moon is also well known for its impressive synchronicity with the Wizard of Oz. Watching the film while listening to the album has become so common that it is its own cultural phenomenon: The Dark Side of the Rainbow. Pink Floyd themselves have said that there is no connection between their album and the Wizard of Oz -- especially given the fact that the album is an hour shorter than the movie. Despite this explicit denial from the band, fans of The Dark Side of the Rainbow have found lyrical and melodic similarities between the movie and album.
Other musicians performing in honor of the eclipse include Vampire Weekend, who are kicking off their summer tour, Only God Was Above Us, in Austin, TX.
