Pink Floyd

Introduction⚑

You don't need to be high to enjoy Pink Floyd, you need Pink Floyd to enjoy being high.

The way to get into Pink Floyd is to start with Dark Side of the Moon and then Wish You Were Here. Both albums are amazing.

Dark Side of the Rainbow⚑

Also, if you haven’t seen it, check out Dark Side of the Rainbow (aka Dark Side of Oz). It's the old school Wizard of Oz movie with the audio of Dark Side of the Moon over it instead of the original soundtrack. If you start the album at the right time (see below) there are quite a few places where the lyrics or transitions sync up. There's a lot of controversy around how it works and how it could planned, the band says it's pure coincidence. Either way, it will blow your mind. There are MANY places the music syncs with the movie. However, only the first¹ play through the album is really amazing.

DIY⚑

There are videos online where the movie is already synced with the album, but the videos I found previously on YouTube have since been removed. However, you don't HAVE to use a video from the Internet. If you want to create your own experience, this is how to do it (assuming CD/DVD combination):

1. Start the DSOTM CD from the very beginning, but begin with it paused.
2. Set your CD player for repeat.
3. Start The Wizard of Oz DVD.
4. Wait for the black and white MGM lion to appear. Once he roars for the third time, hit play on the CD player.
5. Press mute or turn down the volume on your TV.
6. Confirm the album and movie are in sync. When you see the credit “Produced by Mervyn LeRoy,” the credit should be fading amid the transition from “Speak to Me” to “Breathe.” The other tell is at 4:15 when Dorothy falls off the fence.

Syncs⚑

There are many places the music syncs with the movie and depending on which version of the DVD and which version of the album, you use they sync up at different times. I tried it with the Blu-ray anniversary of OZ and a recording of the original vinyl album and had a very difficult time getting it to line up correctly. Later, I found a better version already assembled which is the one I used to note the times below. Because of the different versions, your times will likely vary. Because the first round of the album is where it really syncs up, I only have listed the times of the first play of the album.

This is a list of when the album syncs up with the movie. It's comprised of a few lists I've found online, as well as my own mixed in. There was another site that had a similar list, but I can't locate it anymore.

1:31 The first indicator that the setup is correct: The transition from Speak to Me to Breathe syncs with the fade-in of producer Mervyn LeRoy.

3:02 Leave, but don't leave me ..." Auntie Em appears to say "... Leave ..." to Dorothy, who then turns to leave, looking a bit down.

3:09 Look around ... Dorothy looks around.

3:24 All you touch ..." Dorothy touches the farmhand holding a bucket on his arm.

3:39 Right after "... Dig that hole ..." the farm hand points to the ground.

3:50 "... When at last the work is done (drum strike)..." the drumbeat syncs with the farmhand hitting his finger with the hammer, and
immediately after the word "done" -- he is done for the time being, with his work.

4:08 Balanced on the biggest wave ..." Dorothy balances herself on the rail of the pig pen.

4:15 Song shifts from Breathe to On the Run as Dorothy falls off the fence.

4:42 Auntie Em shows up and begins talking as the woman's voice on DSOTM chatters away.

6:34 Dorothy's gaze travels across from right to left as the sound effect in On The Run moves in the same direction audibly.

6:36 Toto wags his tail in time to the clicking sound effect.

7:19 Toto's ears perk up at the sound of the explosion at the end of On The Run.

7:40 The rumbling at the end of On The Run lends itself nicely as the sound of distant thunder.

8:08 The chimes in Time begin at the appearance of Almira Gulch, on her bicycle, and the chimes stop when she dismounts.

8:38 Uncle Henry is holding a paintbrush, and as he raises and drops it, it's as if he is ringing a bell.

8:44 At the first bass chord of Time the scene changes to inside Auntie Em's house. Dorothy and the rest of the cast appear to move and react to the rhythm and mood of the music.

9:07 Almira Gulch points her finger on the bass chord.

10:33 "Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town", This is said just a little before Toto jumps out of the basket and onto the ground where he kicks off to go back to Dorothy in his hometown.

10:45 "... Waiting for someone or something to show you the way ..." Dorothy waits for Toto, who pops his head in her bedroom window.

11:10 "Ten years have got behind you ..." You see Dorothy's back as she leaves her home behind.

11:12 "No one told you when to run ..." Dorothy is running away from home.

11:19 Guitar solo in Time begins on scene change.

11:34 During the guitar solo of Time, the words "Past, Present and Future" are visible on the sign advertising Professor Marvel fame.

12:54 "..to come up behind you again ..." as Professor Marvel comes up behind Dorothy.

13:26 "... Or half a page of scribbled lines ..." referring to the photo that Professor Marvel sneaks out of Dorothy's basket. A picture is worth a thousand words, and it's the size of half a page.

15:14 The sound of a slide guitar, similar to that of a warning siren, is heard as we see an approaching tornado.

15:34 (voice says) "And I am not frightened of dying ..." as the tornado heads towards a house.

16:00 The drums kick in as a tree is uprooted by force of the wind. Clare Torry's wailing, keeps with the mood and intensity of the tornado scene, and seems to display the emotions of Dorothy. Several other nifty rhythm syncs are seen during this piece, such as the door flying off its hinges, a piece of furniture or appliance falling over on the porch, Dorothy stomping on the storm shelter door, etc.

17:14 After Dorothy gets hit on the head by the window, Clare Torry's wailing eases and Dorothy begins dreaming. NOTE: The song playing during the entire tornado scene and while the house is up in the air is The Great Gig in the Sky

19:39 The "cha-ching !" of Money is heard as Dorothy steps out into colorful Munchkin Land.

19:50 Bass line kicks in as Dorothy steps off the porch.

21:02 "... get back ..." The Munchkins get back in the bushes.

21:22 "Don't give me that do-goody-good bullshit." as Glinda, the (do-goody) good witch comes a-floating down, in her big, green, and then pink bubble.

21:30 "..Traveling" as the bubble arrives

23:30 During the guitar solo of Money, the Munchkins move to the music and do so throughout this scene.

24:09 Ladies dance in time

24:30 The soldiers also appear to march in time with the music.

24:55 "Share it, fairly ..." As a Munchkin shares some flowers with Dorothy.

26:37 During the beginning of Us and Them the organ plays music similar to what might be heard in a funeral parlor, as the Munchkin Coroner unrolls the Certificate of Death.

27:43 The ballerinas from the Lullaby League enter to "Us ... Us .... Us ...".

28:10 The ballerinas exit and Lolly Pop Guild guys enter

28:12 The guys from the Lolly Pop Guild kick and jerk a little dance to the rhythm of the music.

28:50 "Forward! he cried ..." The Munchkins officials thrust out their hands and all seem to shout "Forward!" to Dorothy.

29:13 "... moved from side to side ..." as the Munchkins move to the left and right at the appearance of the Wicked Witch.

29:18 "Black and blue ..." On "black" we see the Wicked Witch wearing black , and as "blue" echoes, we see Dorothy wearing blue.

29:35 "And who knows which is which ..." - Which is Witch?

29:50 "Up and Down ..." On "up", the Wicked Witch of the West is holding her broomstick upright, and on "down" she lowers it.

30:08 "And in the end it's only 'round and 'round..." As Glinda points to Dorothy's feet which are now turning 'round (multiple times).

30:23 "Haven't you heard? It's a battle of words ..." Glinda appears to whisper this line to Dorothy, and then returns to her "battle of words" with the Wicked Witch.

30:39 "Listen son, said the man with the gun ..." Her hand in the shape of a gun, The Wicked Witch points at Dorothy.

31:10 The voice in the song starts as the Glinda starts talking and stops when Dorothy starts talking.

32:20 Lyrics start as Dorothy positions herself at the very beginning of the yellow brick road.

32:26 "... and OUT ... " Glinda heads out of Munchkinland in her bubble.

32:55 "With ... Without" Dorothy begins walking with Toto in her arms, and on "Without" (32:59), she puts him down.

33:52 Scene changes at the same time that Us and Them changes to Any Colour You Like

37:35 "The lunatic is on the grass" The Scarecrow isn't on the grass but he's made of grass and he's certainly dancing around like a lunatic.

40:42 Laughter starts when she knocks on the tin man's foot and laughs with each knock

43:10 Shook tin man's arm at "For everyone you meet"

Dorothy listens for a heartbeat (or lack thereof) in the Tin Woodsman's chest, and we hear that very sound in DSOTM.

TL;DR⚑

When synced correctly, there are a significant number of coincidences between Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz. However, members of Pink Floyd and others involved in creating the album have denied that these coincidences are intentional. Regardless of whether it was by design or just a coincidence, it's still fun to watch and you almost forget that it's not the actual soundtrack of the film.