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With the film Wicked still pulling down massive numbers at the box office (The musical fantasy has hit a $443.9 million cume in the United States and will enter the All-Time Top 30 at the domestic box office), it's the perfect excuse to revisit one of classic rock's most intriguing urban legends - The Dark Side Of The Rainbow.
In August 1995, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette published an article by Charles Savage suggesting that readers watch the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz while listening to the 1973 Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon. The idea, first shared on an online Pink Floyd newsgroup, claimed that if you start the album as the MGM lion roars for the third time onscreen, you will find a long list of coincidences. In fact, the list was so long that it was thought that maybe this wasn't a coincidence at all. Maybe it was intentionally orchestrated by the members of Pink Floyd.
Members of Pink Floyd have denied any connection between the album and the film. Guitarist David Gilmour dismissed it as the product of "some guy with too much time on his hands". Bassist Roger Waters said it was "bullshit" and that it had "nothing to do" with anyone who worked on the album. Drummer Nick Mason called it "Absolute nonsense." The Dark Side of the Moon engineer, Alan Parsons, also denied any connection, saying the band had no means of playing videotapes in the studio at the time of recording.
I believe the bandmembers when they say it wasn't intentional, which makes this even more fascinating. Watch the video below, see and hear the many moments that find the album synching up with the film, and ask yourself how this could have happened if the bandmembers themselves didn't do it. Are there larges forces at play here? Waters himself is open to the possibility of "cosmic coincidences" at play.
I'll also include a great list of the "coincidences/syncs" compiled by the website deviantart.com. Press play below and enjoy the trip...
PART ONE...
SPEAK TO ME
1. Movie starts, album starts.
2. Helicopter noises sound like a movie projector.
BREATHE
1. "Don't be afraid to care"- Auntie Em being annoyed/pestered by Dorothy.
2. "Look around, chose your own ground"- Dorothy looks over her shoulder.
3. "Smiles you give and tears you'll cry"- Hank nursing bruised finger.
4. "All you touch and all you see"- Dorothy grabs Zeke's arm.
5. "Don't sit down, it's time to dig another one"- Zeke sits down.
6. "Balanced on the biggest wave as you race towards an early grave"- Dorothy, balancing on the pigpen, falls to her "death" (the pigs would've eaten her if she hadn't gotten rescued).
ON THE RUN
1. The second Dorothy falls from the pigpen, the song starts.
2. Dorothy starts singing "Over the Rainbow" which has the same initials (OTR) as "On the Run". And both titles have three words in them; two of which are connected with the word "the".
TIME
1. Miss Gulch arrives on her bike right as the chimes/bells begin.
2. "Waiting for someone or something to show you the way"—Toto escapes from the basket and jumps through the window to show Dorothy the way.
3. "No one told you when to run; you missed the starting gun." Dorothy starts running away from home.
4. The bridge in the song lines up with Dorothy walking across a bridge. The only problem I see is that... Since when have there been triangle bridges? And the coincidence with that is that the "Dark Side of the Moon" album cover features that rainbow prism... AKA, a TRIANGLE!
5. The song is about time... The sign on Professor Marvel's trailer says "Past, Present, and Future".
6. "Shorter of breath and one day closer to death"- skull on the shelf behind Dorothy.
7. "Hanging on in quiet desperation"- Dorothy anticipating the reading from Professor Marvel.
BREATHE (REPRISE)
1. "Home, home again"- Dorothy starts to run back home.
2. Song ends the minute the scene ends.
GREAT GIG IN THE SKY
1. "I am not frightened of dying, etc..." A tornado appears; they could die.
2. The song intensifies as the storm picks up.
3. Drums come in the second the wind starts picking up.
4. If the tornado HAD gotten the Gale family, they would've gone to the great gig in the sky.
5. Also, sky = tornado.
6. The song de-intensifies when Dorothy is hit by the window and goes into a dream.
MONEY
1. Side One of the album (vinyl) is exactly as long as the black and white portion of the film.
2. The film switches to colour. There's this old saying that "money is colour".
3. "Money, get back"- Munchkins duck their heads.
4. "Don't give me that do goody-good bullshit"- Enter the Good Witch (Galinda).
5. "I'm in the hi-fidelity, first-class traveling set, and I think I need a Lear jet"- Galinda arrives in her bubble. First-class traveling for witches, perhaps?
US AND THEM
1. The song is about the war and death... The Munchkin Mayor presents the death certificate of the Wicked Witch of the East (Nessarose).
2. "Us, us, us..."- Ballerinas are entirely in tune with the lyrics.
3. "And after all, we're only ordinary men"- the ballerinas are clearly women.
4. "Forward he cried, from the rear"- Munchkin Mayor salutes Dorothy, pointing forward.
5. "Black, black, black, and blue, blue blue"- Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba) enters dressed in black; the camera cuts over to Dorothy, who is wearing blue.
6. "And who knows which is which and who is who"- Elphaba confronts Galinda; notice the pun with "which is which" sounding like "witch is witch".
7. "Up, up, up, and down, down, down"- Elphaba alternates between going up and down, looking between her dead sister and Dorothy.
8. "Haven't you heard, it's a battle of words"- Elphaba and Galinda exchanging words.
9. "Listen son, said the man with the gun"- Elphaba points to Dorothy as if to say "listen"; her broomstick can technically be classified as a weapon/gun.
10. "I mean, they're not gonna kill ya, etc..."- Galinda telling the Munchkins that Elphaba is gone and they're not gonna die.
11. "Down, down, down, and out, out, out"- Galinda exists in her bubble, down and out.
12. "It can't be helped, but there's a lot of it about"- Dorothy saying "My! People sure come and go so quickly here!"
13. "Out of the way, it's a busy day"- Munchkins get out of Dorothy's way; Dorothy starts her journey.
14. Song ends, Dorothy waves good-bye.
ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE
1. Song starts, scene switches.
BRAIN DAMAGE
1. The song is "BRAIN Damage"... Scarecrow sings "If I only had a BRAIN". Also, Pink Floyd had a song about a scarecrow back in the early days with Syd Barrett.
2. "The lunatic is on the grass"- Dorothy and Scarecrow on the grass.
3. "Got to keep the loonies on the path"- Dorothy and Scarecrow on the Yellow Brick Road.
4. "I'll see you on the dark side of the moon"- Dorothy and Scarecrow begin traveling together.
5. "I think it's marvelous, etc..."- Dorothy finds the Tinman; awestruck.
ECLIPSE
1. "All that you save"- Dorothy saves Tinman from his rust-filled doom.
2. The heartbeat at the end of the album coincides with Dorothy listening to Tinman's heartbeat.
PART TWO...
(Pause the movie and re-play the album)
SPEAK TO ME
1. The album starts; Cowardly Lion appears.
2. "You have to explain why you're mad, etc..."- Tinman appears to be lip-syncing these words.
3. The singer screams as Dorothy slaps Cowardly Lion.
BREATHE
1. "Don't be afraid to care"- Dorothy wipes Cowardly Lion's tears.
2. "Leave, but don't leave me"- Dorothy puts down Toto; Toto leaves.
3. "As you race towards an early grave"- Scene cuts to Elphaba planning a way to kill them all.
ON THE RUN
1. When the sound of the airplane taking off is heard, we see Dorothy running with her arms spread out like a pair of wings. Planes have wings.
2. Sound of an airplane taking a nose-dive- Tinman and Scarecrow begin to panic.
3. Sound of an airplane crashing- Galinda provides the antidote for the poppy plot.
4. The song ends when Dorothy wakes up.
TIME
1. Ticking clocks- Dorothy oiling Tinman.
2. First guitar cord of song- Scene switches to Elphaba's castle.
3. Song is about time... The Gatekeeper complains that the gang is wasting his TIME.
4. "Waiting for someone or something to show you the way"- Gatekeeper opens doors to Emerald City and shows them the way.
5. "No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun" The horse stands still.
6. The bridge in the song matches up with how the Cabbie is telling the gang about how the Oz citizens spend their TIME.
7. "Shorter of breath and one day closer to death"- Elphaba, the harbinger of death, flies over the city.
8. "Or half a page of scribbled lines"- Elphaba writes "Surrender Dorothy".
BREATHE (REPRISE)
1. "Home, home again"- Palace Guard tells everyone to go home.
2. "Calls the faithful to their knees"- Cowardly Lion's song starts, and everyone else kneels to him.
GREAT GIG IN THE SKY
1. The song starts as Cowardly Lion climbs stairs. "Great gig in the sky" is slang for "Heaven". He's climbing stairs in a song about Heaven.
2. "I am not frightened of dying, etc..."- Cowardly Lion singing about courage.
MONEY
1. Song starts, scene switches.
2. "Money, get away"- Wizard yells "Come forward".
3. "Money, get back"- Dorothy approaches Wizard.
4. Music intensifies, Dorothy loses her temper, and Cowardly Lion faints.
5. "But if you ask for a rise, it's no surprise that they're giving none away"- Elphaba decides that the only way to get back the Ruby Slippers is to take them by force.
US AND THEM
1. The song starts; the song is about violence; Flying Monkeys attack.
2. They show Elphaba's crystal ball... It acts in a similar way to the prism on the "Dark Side of the Moon" cover... DUN DUN DUN.
3. "And after all, we're only ordinary men"- Elphaba (woman) threatens to kill Toto (dog) if Dorothy (woman) doesn't hand over the Ruby Slippers (object). WHAT.
4. "God only knows it's not what we would choose to do"- Winkies throw spears at Toto as if to intentionally miss.
5. "Forward he cried, from the rear, and the front rank died"- Elphaba sets the hourglass, telling Dorothy she has this much longer to live.
6. "Black, black, black, and blue, blue blue"- the situation is "black", Dorothy is wearing "blue".
7. "And who knows which is which and who is who"- Auntie Em (in a crystal ball) changes into Elphaba the witch... AGAIN WITH THE "WHICH vs WITCH" PUN.
8. "Up, up, up, and down, down, down"- sand in hourglass started UP, goes DOWN.
9. "Haven't you heard, it's a battle of words"- Toto barking as she is a dog and cannot communicate.
10. "Listen son, said the man with the gun"- Scarecrow listens to Toto.
11. "I mean, they're not gonna kill ya, etc..."- the gang contemplates on how they're gonna ambush the Winkies, rescue Dorothy, and kill Elphaba.
12. "Down, down, down, and out, out, out"- The Cowardly Lion loses his nerves and attempts to leave.
13. "And who'll deny that's what the fighting's all about"- the gang scuffles with the Winkies.
14. "For want of the price of tea and a slice, the old man died"- time is about up for Dorothy, and eventually Elphaba herself.
ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE
1. This is an instrumental. Coincidentally, there is little to any talking in this scene.
BRAIN DAMAGE
1. Beginning of song- Elphaba lights Scarecrow on fire; remember Scarecrow singing about if he only had a brain in the first loop of the album.
2. "The lunatic is on the grass"- Elphaba melts. Now she is literally THE GRASS. Coincidentally, water is what kills her; you water the grass with water.
3. "Remembering games and daisy-chains and laughs"- Elphaba's reign of terror has been brought to an end; happy times again.
4. "The lunatic is in the hall"- Winkies standing in the hallway.
5. "The paper holds their folded faces to the floor"- The lyric is slang for "newspaper"... Newspapers have news... Dorothy must go and tell the Wizard the NEWS. (and NEWS could also be "North, East, West, and South"; as in the Witches of Insert-Direction-Here).
6. "You raise the blade, you make the change, you re-arrange me till I'm sane"- Tinman is holding his ax. Also, spelled with an "E", "axe" is slang for guitar.
7. "There's someone in my head, but it's not me"- the Wizard trying to conceal the identity of the giant floating head.
8. "You shout and no one seems to hear"- Scarecrow scolding the Wizard.
9. "And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes"- Dorothy at first thought the Wizard would be nice, changes her "tune" to hating the Wizard.
10. "I can't think of anything to say, etc..."- the Wizard speaking.
ECLIPSE
1. This is a climatic song. Coincidentally, everyone is rewarded now.
2. "There is no dark side of the moon really, etc..."- Tinman seems to lip-sync these words.
3. The heartbeat at the end of the song coincides with the Wizard giving Tinman a heart.
(Note, this was not intentional; but if you crank your volume up really loud as the album starts to fade out, you can hear a snippet of the Beatles's "Ticket to Ride"... Which coincides with the fact that Dorothy wants a "ticket to ride" back home to Kansas).
Play the album one more time to get one last sync.
1. During "Breathe (Reprise)"- Dorothy wakes up at home right on the line "Home... Home again..."
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