Was Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ Created Purposely to Sync With ‘The Wizard of Oz’?

The controversy over a concept that posits a synchrony between British rock band Pink Floyd’s iconic 1973 album “The Dark Side of the Moon” and the traditional 1939 fantasy movie “The Wizard of Oz” has been raging for many years, fascinating movie buffs and traditional rock followers whereas sparking widespread dialogue on social media and in blogs. The idea first gained traction within the Nineteen Nineties and has continued since then, fueled by popular culture fans who declare to have skilled the alleged synchronization firsthand.

Within the early ’90s, a captivating phenomenon dubbed “Darkish Aspect of the Rainbow” captured the general public creativeness. As web boards gained prominence, discussions surrounding the alleged harmonic coordination of the movie with the album proliferated. Followers shared anecdotes and insights, contributing to the perpetuation of the rumor throughout numerous platforms. Over time, the speculation developed from a distinct segment fascination to a widely known cultural phenomenon, attracting consideration from followers and media retailers.

Regardless of many anecdotal accounts of coincidental alignments between the album’s tracks and the movie’s scenes, the dearth of concrete proof coupled with constant denials from the band members and studio manufacturing group concerning any deliberate synchronization of the album with the film have eroded the credibility of the declare. 

All through the years, members of Pink Floyd have addressed the rumor of their album’s intentional synchronization with the film. Guitarist and co-lead vocalist David Gilmour dismissed the idea, saying, “Some man with an excessive amount of time on his fingers had this concept of mixing ‘Wizard of Oz’ with ‘Darkish Aspect of the Moon.'”

In an MTV article published in 1997, “The Darkish Aspect of the Moon” sound engineer, Alan Parsons, defined, “There merely wasn’t mechanics to do it. We had no technique of enjoying videotapes within the room in any respect. I do not suppose VHS had come alongside by ’72, had it?”

Moreover, in the identical MTV story, Pink Floyd drummer, Nick Mason, joked of the speculation, “It is absolute nonsense, it has nothing to do with ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ It was all based mostly on ‘The Sound of Music.'”

In his 2022 look on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, co-lead vocalist and bassist Roger Waters advised Rogan that the synchronization was “bulls***” and “has nothing to do with us.”

The popularization of the phenomenon may be traced again to an article revealed in 1995 by Charles Savage in The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Savage instructed an intriguing experiment: Watching “The Wizard of Oz” whereas concurrently listening to “The Darkish Aspect of the Moon.” The creator credited the preliminary concept to a poster in an early-’90s on-line message board for Pink Floyd, who apparently wrote that “she or he’d heard about it from ‘some individuals down in Los Angeles.'”   

Savage described the audio-visual expertise as “astonishing,” noting that when one hits play on the album because the MGM lion roars for the primary time on display (some individuals who’ve tried it counsel it is best to hit play on the lions third roar), a exceptional synchronicity unfolds. He noticed that the music appeared to align with the movie’s motion and plot, creating an immersive fusion of sound and imagery. The lyrics and titles of the album’s songs appeared to correspond with sure on-screen occasions, resulting in moments of uncanny coincidence. For instance, in line with Savage:

• Throughout “Breathe,” Dorothy does a tightrope-like stroll alongside the holding pen to the lyric “and balanced on the most important wave.”
• The road “nobody advised you when to run” from “Time” is sung simply because the scene switches to Dorothy working away from dwelling to save lots of Toto.
• “Dwelling, dwelling once more” from the “Breathe” reprise is sung because the fortuneteller tells Dorothy to go dwelling.
• “Do not give me that do goody good bullshit” from “Cash” comes as Glinda the Good Witch of the North floats in as a bubble.
• “Black… and blue” from “Us and Them” is sung because the Depraved Witch of the West seems wearing black. That’s shortly adopted by “and who is aware of which is which” (witch is witch) as she and Glenda confront one another.
• “Mind Injury” – which begins at virtually the identical time because the film’s “If I Solely Had a Mind” – comprises the strains “The lunatic is on the grass” and “Obtained to maintain the loonies on the trail.” That is simply because the Scarecrow flops round like a madman on the grass after which on the Yellow Brick Highway.

Savage’s article sparked widespread curiosity and impressed followers to delve deeper into the phenomenon.

One other early point out of this phenomenon comes from a 1997 article by Helen Kennedy from the New York Each day Information, through which she name-checked Boston radio persona George Taylor Morris of WZLX-FM as an originator of the speculation.

Fans have created dedicated YouTube posts, articles and artworks to doc their experiences and catalog moments of synchrony between the album and the movie.

Publications corresponding to Mojo4Music and The New York Times have additionally delved into the historical past of this phenomenon whereas analyzing the validity of the declare, exploring each the origins of the rumor and its enduring enchantment. 

The phenomenon and legacy of “Dark Side of the Rainbow” continues to captivate audiences to at the present time, solidifying its place in common tradition and fueling ongoing fascination with the intersection of music and movie. 

Regardless of the rumor persevering with to persist and flow into on social media platforms, the declare that Pink Floyd’s “The Darkish Aspect of the Moon” was created to synchronize with “The Wizard of Oz” is fake. Whereas the concept of such synchronization might have sparked curiosity and impressed inventive interpretations amongst followers, the accessible proof suggests it’s a product of coincidence relatively than deliberate design. 

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