The Dark Side of the Rainbow: How Pink Floyd Fans Linked the Album to The Wizard of Oz

The theory goes that if you start The Dark Side of the Moon at the third roar of the MGM lion in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, the album syncs up eerily with the movie’s visuals and themes. Fans have pointed to moments like money references lining up with the Scarecrow’s dance, the heartbeat syncing with Dorothy’s race to the Emerald City, and the album’s closing heartbeat matching her return to Kansas.

Band members never bought into it being intentional. David Gilmour called it “a load of old bollocks” in a 2011 interview, saying the timing is coincidence—the album was recorded without any visual reference. Nick Mason was more amused, noting the album’s length and the film’s runtime happen to be close, which makes it easy to find alignments. Roger Waters dismissed it outright, insisting there was no plan to match anything from Oz. Still, the theory persists as one of rock’s great accidental pairings.