I had never heard about this but apparently, several years ago a rumor began to circulate about a strange connection between Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and the MGM classic The Wizard of Oz (1939). Synchronize the film and the album, a number of coincidental events occur.
“The Great Gig in the Sky” begins as the tornado approaches Dorothy’s farm, builds as the storm worsens, and slows when Dorothy is knocked unconscious; “Brain Damage” plays as the Scarecrow sings “If I Only Had a Brain”; and the album concludes with the sound of a heartbeat as Dorothy puts her hand on the Tin Woodsman’s chest.
Want to see for yourself? YouTube has the entire synchronized version. (via)
Whilst I contemplate the “I had never heard about this” confession you might care to peruse…
http://www.synchronicityarkive.com/node/18
and Echoes / ET:
http://www.synchronicityarkive.com/node/218
or Wish You Were Here / It’s A Wonderful Life:
http://www.synchronicityarkive.com/node/204
Shocking, eh? :) Well nope. Never been much of a PF fan…
Looks to me like the stuff that should happen: take enough movies and enough albums, and “strange things” happen.
My main shock concerns the amount of time people have to try all the combinations.
Hey thanks, Bro! I’d been hearing that legend for years… And tho’ I’ve owned both movie and LP for years, I’ve never had enough impetus to try the synch myself – so it was cool to watch.
But, I think Jeroen is right…
Cool! I’ve heard about this some years ago, but I’ve never been able to check it out.
I think it’s all coincidence, but even if so, it’ll be fun to watch.
Now all I have to do is wait until I get home, and remember to watch it ;)
Ha! I seem to be the only person on the planet never to have heard about this. Where’ve I been in livin’! Reseda?
further discussion here: link.
I’ve heard about this. I even have a DVD I pre-sync’d.
This has been around since the inception of cd’s. Dont know if it is real or not. I used to fart around with syncs back in high school. Usually just putting on music and watching CNN. Thousands of hours of just watching, ties up with some Burroughs/Gysin theories rather well.
PF drummer on the subject: “WHAT? Wizard of Oz? That’s preposterous, it supposed to sync up with “The Sound of Music”” Or something witty like that. For shits and giggles, try “Wish You Were Here” with 2001: A Space Odyssey. I believe it is when the old school MGM lion appears, start the cd. Then for the last, psychedelic bit, put on Echoes after The title for the last bit. This works REALLY well and acts as a substitute for PF live. Awesome!
Something else that’s interesting is A Clockwork Orange and the Meddle album. Put it on when Alex is first in the music store. When he drops the album, or is it a hat, or whatever will synch up with the first bass thud. The rest goes by quite comically.
oh yeah!
The Flaming Lips did something like that live on kcrw’s morning becomes eclectic radio show in aug1999, here:
http://www.kcrw.com/cgi-bin/db/kcrw.pl?show_code=mb&air_date=8/2/99&tmplt_type=show
it’s an hour long show but the wizard of oz/pink floyd stuff is the last 8 or 9 minutes of it.
but you gotta hear Wayne tell the story about it ;-))))
Get a life!
Got one, thanks.
Ben Folds Five Whatever and Ever Amen with Nosferatu. No, really.
mediocrates: try Nosferatu (the original, not the one that features Klaus Kinski) with the Yellow Shark and/or Civilization Phase III — you’ll be surprised!
Ha! I always forget that there was a remake. I was talking about the Murnau version. Start the album as soon as the church steeple fades in.
What point should I start the Zappa albums at? I think I’ll try it with both.