View source for Unsolved:The Dark Side of the Rainbow

{{Short description|Pairing of Pink Floyd and The Wizard of Oz}}
'''The Dark Side of the Rainbow''' – also known as '''Dark Side of Oz''' or '''The Wizard of Floyd''' – is the pairing of the 1973 Pink Floyd album ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' with the 1939 film ''The Wizard of Oz.'' This produces numerous moments of apparent [[Philosophy:Synchronicity|synchronicity]] where the film and the album appear to correspond. Members of Pink Floyd and the ''Dark Side of the Moon'' engineer Alan Parsons denied any intent to connect the album to the film.

== History ==
In August 1995, the ''Fort Wayne Journal Gazette'' published an article by Charles Savage suggesting that readers watch the 1939 film ''The Wizard of Oz'' while listening to the 1973 Pink Floyd album ''The Dark Side of the Moon''. Savage said the idea was first shared on an online Pink Floyd newsgroup.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last=Savage, Charles|date=August 1, 1995|title=The Dark Side of the Rainbow|newspaper=The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette|url=http://members.aol.com/rbsavage/floydwizard.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013213037/http://members.aol.com/rbsavage/floydwizard.html|archive-date=October 13, 2007|via=rbsavage}}</ref> According to Savage, if you start the album as the MGM lion roars for the first time onscreen, “The result is astonishing. It's as if the movie were one long art-film music video for the album. Song lyrics and titles match the action and plot. The music swells and falls with character's movements ... expect to see enough firm coincidences to make you wonder whether the whole thing was planned."<ref name=":0" />

Fans created websites about the experience and catalogued moments of synchronicity. In April 1997, the DJ George Taylor Morris discussed "Dark Side of the Rainbow" on Boston radio.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=May 30, 1997 |title=The Pink Floyd / Wizard Of Oz Connection |language=en |work=MTV News |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1433194/the-pink-floydwizard-of-oz-connection/ |url-status=live |access-date=2018-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162230/http://www.mtv.com/news/1433194/the-pink-floydwizard-of-oz-connection/ |archive-date=2018-06-12}}</ref> In July 2000, Turner Classic Movies aired ''The Wizard of Oz'' with the option of synchronising the broadcast to the album using the [[Engineering:Second audio program|SAP]] audio channel.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CSTB&p_theme=cstb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=%28dark%20side%20of%20oz%29%20AND%20date%287/2/2000%20to%207/4/2000%29&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=7/2/2000%20to%207/4/2000%29&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=%28%22dark%20side%20of%20oz%22%29Êl_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:DÊl_useweights=no |title=Dark Side of Oz |date=July 3, 2000 |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=April 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819010432/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CSTB&p_theme=cstb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=%28dark%20side%20of%20oz%29%20AND%20date%287%2F2%2F2000%20to%207%2F4%2F2000%29&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date%3AB%2CE&p_text_date-0=7%2F2%2F2000%20to%207%2F4%2F2000%29&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=%28%22dark%20side%20of%20oz%22%29%C3%8Al_numdocs%3D20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD%C3%8Al_useweights%3Dno |archive-date=August 19, 2016 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stereophile.com/news/10772/index.html |title=Dark Side of the Rainbow? |last=Iverson |first=Jon |date=June 18, 2000 |website=Audiophile |access-date=March 11, 2019 |archive-date=April 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421165046/https://www.stereophile.com/news/10772/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Response ==
Members of Pink Floyd have denied any connection between the album and the film. The guitarist, David Gilmour, dismissed it as the product of "some guy with too much time on his hands".<ref name="response">{{cite web|title=David Gilmour interview|url=http://members.cox.net/stegokitty4/sounds/dv_dsotmwo-oz.mp3|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060505004534/http://members.cox.net/stegokitty4/sounds/dv_dsotmwo-oz.mp3|archive-date=May 5, 2006|access-date=November 19, 2005}}</ref> The bassist, Roger Waters, said it was "bullshit" and that had "nothing to do" with anyone who worked on the album.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kielty |first=Martin |date=9 October 2022 |title=Roger Waters Shares His Favorite 'Dark Side of the Rainbow' Rumor |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/roger-waters-pink-floyd-dark-side-of-the-rainbow-wizard-of-oz/ |access-date=2022-10-15 |website=Ultimate Classic Rock |language=en}}</ref> The drummer, Nick Mason, said: "It's absolute nonsense. It has nothing to do with ''The Wizard of Oz''. It was all based on ''The Sound of Music''."<ref>{{cite web|date=May 30, 1997|title=The Pink Floyd/Wizard Of Oz Connection|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1433194/pink-floydwizard-oz-connection.jhtml|access-date=September 20, 2011|work=MTV|archive-date=September 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913155418/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1433194/pink-floydwizard-oz-connection.jhtml|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''Dark Side of the Moon'' engineer, Alan Parsons, also denied any connection, saying the band had no means of playing video tapes in the studio at the time of recording.<ref name=":1" /> He said he was disappointed by the results when he tried watching the film while listening to the album, and that "if you play any record with the sound turned down on the TV, you will find things that work".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Harris |first=John |date=March 12, 2003 |title="Dark Side" at 30: Alan Parsons: Pink Floyd |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/articles/story/5937469/dark_side_at_30_alan_parsons |url-status=dead |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114112644/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/articles/story/5937469/dark_side_at_30_alan_parsons |archive-date=January 14, 2009 |access-date=November 29, 2008}}</ref>

Detractors argue that the phenomenon is the result of the mind's tendency to find patterns by discarding data that does not fit.<ref>{{cite web|date=May 5, 2000|title=Does the music in Pink Floyd's ''Dark Side of the Moon'' coincide with the action of ''The Wizard of Oz''?|url=http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdarkside.html|work=The Straight Dope|access-date=November 22, 2005|archive-date=July 20, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720004303/http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdarkside.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The film critic Richard Roeper published his assessment of the phenomenon, which he referred to as "Dark Side of Oz". Roeper concluded that while Pink Floyd may have had the resources and technical abilities to produce an alternative film soundtrack, undergoing such an endeavour would have been impractical. Roeper also noted that ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is approximately an hour shorter than ''The Wizard of Oz''.<ref name="Roeper1999">{{cite book|author=Richard Roeper|title=Urban Legends: The Truth Behind All Those Deliciously Entertaining Myths that are Absolutely, Positively, 100% Not True!|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPiAAAAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Career Press|isbn=978-1-56414-418-8|access-date=2020-12-10|archive-date=2022-01-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109203702/https://books.google.com/books?id=kPiAAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Variations ==
The fame of Dark Side of the Rainbow has prompted some to search for synchronicities among other albums by other bands and films by other directors.  The lengthy Pink Floyd song "Echoes" from the 1971 album ''Meddle'' has been paired with "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite", the fourth act in the 1968 film ''2001: A Space Odyssey.'' Both the track and the sequence are approximately 23 minutes.<ref name="Shaffner">{{cite book | last = Shaffner | first = Nicholas | title = Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey | publisher = Harmony Books | year = 1991 | page = 142 | isbn = 0-517-57608-2 }}</ref> Comedian Matt Herzau claims that the Pixar film ''WALL-E'' syncs up with Pink Floyd's rock opera ''The Wall'', which he has called "Another Brick in the WALL-E", after the album's three-part song "Another Brick in the Wall".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jul/22/dark-side-moon-and-wall-e-sync-fans-claim/ |title= Another Brick in the Wall-E? Pixar Meets Pink Floyd |work= Daily Camera/Colorado Daily |date=July 22, 2009 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120730220447/http://www.coloradodaily.com/news/2009/jul/22/dark-side-moon-and-wall-e-sync-fans-claim/ |archive-date=July 30, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://io9.com/5320543/another-brick-in-the-wall+e-pixar-meets-pink-floyd |title=Another Brick in the Wall-E? Pixar Meets Pink Floyd |first=Lauren |last=Davis |work=io9 |date=July 22, 2009 |access-date=July 24, 2009 |archive-date=July 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725094753/http://io9.com/5320543/another-brick-in-the-wall+e-pixar-meets-pink-floyd |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==
*{{annotated link|Apophenia}}
*Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences urban legend
*{{annotated link|Physics:Pareidolia}}
*[[Philosophy:Synchronicity|Synchronicity]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Urban legends}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Side of the Rainbow, The}}
[[Category:Urban legends]]

{{Sourceattribution|The Dark Side of the Rainbow}}