If
you're a rock and roll fan (of a certain age by now...) or a Pink Floyd fan, then you've probably heard this urban legend. If you
start their album “Dark Side of the Moon” when the MGM lion roars
for the third time, then the action on the screen (mute the sound of
the movie itself) of The Wizard of Oz will eerily align with the
album's music.
I've
always wanted to try this. Big time Pink Floyd fan here. But it
seemed like a lot of syncing to make it happen, and my copy of the
album is on vinyl, or MP3 on iTunes, so I'd either have to find a
turntable needle, or hook up speakers to my computer. Then rent the
movie, then get it all set up to push play at the right time. I was
lamenting all of this to The Transporter, who has taken History of
Rock and Roll, and two music tech classes, who just rolled his eyes
at me (ever the teenager) and said, “They've done it for you. It's
on YouTube, the whole thing. Mr. C played it for us in class. It's
totally trippy, Mom.”
Last
night somehow we ended up on the topic again, and decided that we'd
do a viewing after homework and dishes were done.
It
IS totally trippy. Pink Floyd's lyrics talk about balancing, while Dorothy is balancing on the corral fence. The music
builds to a crescendo as the tornado moves in. Dorothy passes out
and the music slows and gets all dreamy as she has her visions while
the house spins.
Most
dramatic is probably that EXACTLY when the movie switches from black and white to color is when you'd have to switch to the other side of the
cassette or record, and “Money” starts playing as she beholds the
bedazzled world of Oz.
I
could go on and on and on (you've heard me do it before in many a post) but I think
you should watch it. Some of the synchronicity is so subtle, but if
you're a musician or music fan you'll notice the notes matching
character's expressions and actions. Absolutely amazing.
Of
course, the album is 43 minutes long, so it ends as Dorothy meets the
tin man. How it ends and what the music is doing is another totally
awesome “coincidence” that I'll leave for you to discover.
We
also watched a video of Nick Mason, the drummer from the band,
talking about whether this was on purpose or not. The poster of the
video doesn't allow embedding but here's the link to that conversation.
He
denies it by saying wow, someone must have had a lot of time on their
hands to work that out. My favorite line was, “I bet if you put on
The Wall during Ben Hur that would work, too!”
Regardless,
it was a completely enjoyable family viewing experience, and as
someone said, “Totally trippy!”
I've put the video up for your reference, but I'm not expecting you to spend the 43 minutes right now.
~Tina
P.S So who's watching Ben Hur with me? I'll bring The Wall...
