Friday, November 7, 1997

Volume 85, Issue 4

The  Dark Side of Oz

Information compiled by Krista Benson

The Yellow Brick Road meets “The Wall?”

Pink Floyd and the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz don’t seem very connected, but one day somebody with a lot of time on their hands decided to see how Pink Floyd’s classic concept album “Dark Side of the Moon” would work as a hidden soundtrack for The Wizard of Oz.

Thus the “Dark Side of the Moon”/Wizard of Oz connection was made. If “Dark Side” is played in conjunction with Oz, the lyrics and moods of the music match the plot of the movie to a degree that cannot be dismissed as coincidental.

“Dark Side” was one of Pink Floyd’s best selling albums ever, even before this odd connection was made. The band insists that the “Dark Side” connection was not intentional, but the movie and album match so well that it is must be seen to be believed.

Here, The Arrow  presents you with a basic user guide for “The Dark Side of Oz.”

First, you must begin the album at the end of the MGM lion’s third roar. It is very important that your CD player is on loop, because the CD can play through approximately two and a half times until the end of the movie, and the accordance with the Oz extends all the way through the movie. It is also important to turn the sound of the movie all the way off for full effect.

The parallels between the movie and the CD are often in the mood of the music and the mood of the movie, but there are also many times when the lyrics also match. Because of the resemblances with the lyrics, it is also important to have the lyrics sheet from “Dark Side.”

The following are SOME of the points of the movie that parallel.

 • When everyone is talking, as Aunty Em appears a old woman can be heard talking in the music.

• On the words “home, home again,” the fortune teller is telling about Dorothy’s farm. 

• Around 3:33 (on your CD player) in Great Gig in the Sky, a voice can be heard saying: “I never said I was frightened of Dorothy.”

• “Great Gig in the Sky” plays while the house is in the sky.

• The cash register in Money is heard right as color is seen in Oz.

• The munchkins dance exactly to the beat of “Money.”

• On the words ‘do goody good bulls***” the Good Witch’s bubble appears.

• “And who knows which is which and who is who” is sung when the camera switches between the Good and Wicked Witches.

• “Brain Damage” is played as Scarecrow sings “If I Only Had a Brain.”

• The heartbeat heard at the end of the album is heard as Dorothy listens for the Tin Man’s lack of a heart.

• On the words “but it’s sinking,” Dorothy falls down in the field.

• On the words, “the song is over,” the scene switches to Dorothy’s home.

• On the words, “home, home again,” Dorothy is at home with her family.