Songs About the Sun and Moon: Total Eclipse of the Charts

With tributes by Dylan, McCartney, Lucinda, REM, Joni, Nick Drake, Tweedy, Waits, Neil Young, Billie Holiday, more...

Greg Mitchell is the author of more than a dozen books (see link) and now writer/director of three award-winning films aired via PBS, including “Atomic Cover-up” and “Memorial Day Massacre” which are still up at PBS.org. Before all that, he was a longtime editor of the legendary Crawdaddy. You can still subscribe to this newsletter for free.

With eclipse-mania at its peak as tomorrow approaches, I should stay away from “Cloudy” by Simon & Garfunkel or any version of “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today.” Are you gonna love it, come rain or come shine? But here are a few eccentric choices with sun or moon or both in the title, kicking off with Alejandro Escovedo who covered all the bases (on his classic “13 Years” album) with “Ballad of the Sun and Moon.” We will be skipping “Moondance,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “Bad Moon Rising” and other over familiar tributes.

Alejandro Escovedo, “Ballad of the Sun and Moon”

McCartney live, “Good Day Sunshine,” 1990

From his debut album, Dylan with “House of the Rising Sun” (soon to be rendered by Timothee C.)

Lucinda Williams from early album, “Big Red Sun”

From Nick Drake’s debut, “Saturday Sun” (check out the Elton cover on You Tube)

A young Sharon Van Etten live, “Every Time the Sun Comes Up”

Classic early ‘60s rock, “California Sun,” later covered by The Ramones

Television at their best, a hypnotic “Marquee Moon”

One of the best “Blue Moon” versions, by Billie Holiday

If you believe: Springsteen joins REM for “Man on the Moon”

Joni, “Judgement of the Moon and Stars”

Early Tom Waits, and jazzy, “Drunk on the Moon”

Neil Young, “Harvest Moon,” at the Ryman, with Emmylou etc.

Jeff Tweedy of Wilco tackles Nick Drake’s “Pink Moon”

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