Strange Yet Strangely Related
Once in a blue moon a truly bizarre and seemingly random connection is introduced that functions to push collective human thought process to a new level of absurdity. In order to capture this mass appeal the connection must truly be incredible, and the popularity of the individual sources have by themselves gained much attention. The relation of Pink Floyd's mega successful album The Dark Side of the Moon to the ever-popular release The Wizard of Oz is perhaps one of such merit. As odd as a connection between playing the album as a soundtrack for the movie may sound, I believe linking the two together at some point was inevitable. While the probability that Dark Side of the Moon was choreographed with Wizard of Oz is unlikely, the syncopations of the movie played with album are uncanny. After being asked of the connection on a Boston radio station, Richard Wright the Pink Floyd keyboardist denied any intentional syncopation between the movie and the album (Kennedy 208). But this fact certainly doesn't mean connections do not exist. If the album is played as the MGM lion roars for the third and final time, the two seem to mysteriously "synch" together. In order to tell the marriage is working corr
ectly the Wicked Witch (in human form) appears on her bicycle at the same moment a burst of alarm bells sound on the album (Kennedy 214). From there on many coincidences occur off and on. While its takes about two and half repetitions of the album (42:52 min.) to complete the movie (103 min.), the majority of the synchronicities and synched crescendos and decrescendos occur during the first play of the album. A few of the major occurrences are (in order of appearance): Dorothy leaves the fortuneteller's wagon to go home when the words, "home, home again" are sung in "Breathe"; the calm beginning to "The Great Gig in The Sky" contrasts the twister; "The Great Gig in The Sky" plays during the house's flight through the sky; Dorothy begins dreaming during the slow ending to "Great Gig"; "Money" begins when Dorothy opens door to Munchkin Ville and the movie changes to color; the Good Witch confronts the Wicked Witch during "Us and Them" as the words, "and who knows which is which" are sung; the Scarecrow begins his floppy jig near a green lawn when "the lunatic is on the grass," from "Brain Damage" is sung; Dorothy listens to the Tin Man's chest for a heartbeat as the heartbeat closing out the album thumps away; and finally when Dorothy is back in Kansas at the end of the movie she opens her eyes as "home, home again" plays (Kennedy 214). Wizard of Oz, The. Dir. Jack Haley, Jr. Warner Brothers, 1939. When the great ups and downs throughout the album were discovered to have direct correlation to the movie's changes, it is little wonder some conspiracy-minded fans were convinced the whole thing was planned and kept a secret for twenty-five years (Kennedy 208). The sound effects used extensively throughout the album offer an interesting dimension, and they also fall curiously in strange places along the movie (more so reflecting the
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1246
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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