Not so scary, just kind of weird

Back in the rather dull 80's, I heard a rumor which claimed if you started playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album right at the 3rd roar of the MGM lion at the beginning of the Wizard of Oz movie, there were many incidents of weird appropriateness with the song and the movie.

If you want to define sychronicity as "meaningful coincidences" then, this would be the perfect definition.

Here's a list of some of the meaningful coincidences:

The lyric 'balanced on the biggest wave' coincides with Dorothy balancing on the fence at the farm. The words: "Fall into an early grave" as Dorothy falls off the fence.

Chimes and Bells start ringing as the Wicked Witch appears riding her bicycle.

During the 'Time' guitar solo, the fortune teller's sign is shown with the words "Past Present and Future"

The song, "Great Gig in the Sky" has many incidents:

The tornado is shown in the background when you hear the words 'I'm not frightened of dying'.

The drums start right as the wind picks up and trees are uprooted.

The singer slows down when Dorothy is knocked out by the window.

'Great Gig in the Sky' is the song heard as the house is flying through the sky.

Side 1 of the vinyl album (vinyl) is exactly as long as the black & white portion of the film.

The jingle of the cash register sounds in Money is heard exactly at the moment that color is introduced in the movie.

'Us and Them':

The ballerinas enter on 'Us, us, us, us' and one ballerina appears to sing: 'ordinary men'; then three munchkins enter on 'Me, me, me'.

'Forward he cried' is sung as Dorothy turns and faces forward.
The Wicked Witch appears on 'Black, black' and then on 'Blue, blue, blue,' the camera switches to Dorothy (in her blue dress).

'And who knows which is which and who is who' is heard at the moment that the Wicked Witch of the West turns to look at the recently deceased Wicked Witch of the East. (Play on words: "Which is Which" as in "Witch is Witch".

The Witch is high upon a platform on 'Up, up' and then descends on 'Down, down, down'.

As 'And in the End' is heard, the Wicked Witch of the East disappears.

On 'Out, out, out,' the Glinda, the Good Witch of the North departs.

'Brain Damage' plays as the Scarecrow sings 'If I Only Had a Brain'

Heartbeat sounds at the end of the album is heard as Dorothy thumps and then listens to the Tin Man's chest.

If you are now intrigued, you can find an even more comprehensive list at the website called Turn Me On Dead Man. Sorry, I am having a brain fart and cannot get the link to work so you'll have to google it. I promise you won't be sorry, it's fascinating.

Of course, there are many who say that if you put any movie with any album or cd, or whatever they're called these days, it will match up in some ways. Well, I suppose that could be true, but that's not much fun is it?

Now, back in the good old 80's, we had about three or four copies of the Dark Side of the Moon album and we also owned a vhs of Wizard of Oz which happened to be my then two year old daughter's very favorite and treasured video. I always wanted to do the experiment, but it sounded so complicated to line up the playing of the RECORD (yes, the vinyl record) with the third roar of the lion. Especially since the lion's roars kind of run into each other so it would be difficult to discern where one actually lets off and the next one begins.

So recently, for some reason, I thought about this rumor again and I just KNEW it would be on You Tube. Thank goodness for the internet. We don't have to do anything for ourselves anymore!

For your viewing pleasure, here are the first six tracks of the album. When you're watching these, keep in mind that although they are broken into six different cuts, they are actually continuous; in other words, the cd of Dark Side of the Moon was begun right at the third roar of the MGM lion in the Wizard of Oz movie. The song tracks begin just as they are seen in each cut, they weren't edited to begin at each point in the movie that fits them.