NBC Insider Exclusive

Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!

Sign Up For Free to View
NBC Insider Late Night

David Gilmour Addresses Syncing Pink Floyd's Album with The Wizard of Oz

He tells Jimmy Fallon whether the band had planned for The Dark Side of the Moon to match up with the beloved musical.

By Christopher Rudolph
David Gilmour Addresses The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz Synchronization Rumor
Video thumbnail
Now Playing
13:14
Highlight
David Gilmour Addresses The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz Synchronization Rumor
Video thumbnail
9:31
Highlight
Adam Levine Announces Maroon 5 Album and Tour, Talks Writing Songs with benny blanco and The Voice
Video thumbnail
6:56
Highlight
Bella Ramsey Cried Reading The Last of Us Season 2 Script, Shows Off Their Clicker Impression
Video thumbnail
5:33
Highlight
Tina Friml Stand-Up: Dating Geeks, Embarrassing Kinks
Video thumbnail
7:50
Highlight
Trump Says Don't Be Stupid as Stock Market Crashes, Elon Musk Rages Over Trump's Tariffs
Video thumbnail
1:29
Highlight
Bella Ramsey Raps a Recap of The Last of Us Season 1
Video thumbnail
5:48
Highlight
Sam Nivola Confirms The White Lotus Fan Theories, Reveals the One Thing He Hated Filming
Video thumbnail
4:09
Highlight
Perfume Genius: It's a Mirror
Video thumbnail
6:37
Highlight
Password with Elton John, Brandi Carlile and Hailee Steinfeld
Video thumbnail
4:39
Highlight
Hailee Steinfeld on Josh Allen Engagement, Singing in Front of Elton John and Sinners
Video thumbnail
13:11
Highlight
Trump's Tariffs Send Stocks Crashing Amidst World Panic, OnlyFans Considers Bid on TikTok
Video thumbnail
6:43
Highlight
Elton John and Brandi Carlile Met Through a Letter and Went into the Studio with Nothing Prepared
Video thumbnail
8:40
Highlight
Bon Iver Talks Collabs with Taylor Swift and Charli xcx and New Album SABLE, fABLE (Extended)
Video thumbnail
8:08
Highlight
Trump Divulges Elon Musk Is Exiting His Admin Soon, Cory Booker Holds 25-Hour Trump Protest
Video thumbnail
10:35
Highlight
Olivia Munn’s Marriage to John Mulaney Started on a Lie; Talks Your Friends and Neighbors
Video thumbnail
3:26
Highlight
Wet Leg: catch these fists
Video thumbnail
9:36
Highlight
Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler Talk Creating Black Panther and Reuniting for Fifth Film, Sinners
Video thumbnail
5:27
Highlight
Louis McCartney Teaches Jimmy How to Do Vecna's Voice, Talks Stranger Things: The First Shadow

With Wicked flying into theaters later this month, the world has Oz on the brain. And one of the strangest pop culture legends surrounding the original 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz, is how Pink Floyd's classic The Dark Side of the Moon album magically seems to sync up with what's happening onscreen in the musical.

How to Watch

Watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC weeknights at 11:35/10:35c and next day on Peacock

During his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on November 8, Pink Floyd member David Gilmour addressed the rumor, and if the band had actually planned their famous album to match with The Wizard of Oz.

RELATED: How Does Wicked Connect to The Wizard of Oz? The Magical World Explained

Was it on purpose? "Well, of course it was," Gilmour told Jimmy Fallon with a straight face — before confirming that it's just a crazy coincidence.

"We listened to it, Polly and I, years ago," Gilmour continued, referring to his wife, Polly Samson. "There was no planning that out. I only heard about it years later."

How to sync up The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz

Gilmour told Fallon and The Tonight Show exactly how to watch The Wizard of Oz to see the coincidental moments the film appears to align with musical cues in The Dark Side of the Moon.

"On the third roar of the MGM lion, you put the needle [of the record player] on for the beginning of Dark Side, and there's these strange synchronicities that happen," the Pink Floyd singer and guitarist explained.

David Gilmour talks to Jimmy on The Tonight Show Season 12 Episode 23

"Well, now people have done the chore work, and added it on YouTube," Gilmour continued. "You can watch. It's kind of amazing, and there are these strange coincidences — I'll call them coincidences."

"So maybe if you play this while you watch the movie Wicked..." said Fallon, as he held up Gilmour's latest album, Luck and Strange.

"Who knows?" answered the musician. Might be time to break out your record players, Ozians!

The theory of the Dark Side of the Moon/Wizard of Oz connection became widespread in the '90s thanks to journalist Charlie Savage, who wrote about the phenomenon of certain lyrics and sounds from the album syncing up with scenes in the classic Judy Garland film.

RELATED: Reba McEntire Shared an Amazing Photo from Her Rodeo Barrel Racing Days

"The band members have said they didn’t do it on purpose and that when they were recording the album there was no ready means of reproducing the film in the studio, which seems persuasive," Savage told Mojo in 2023. "But I have never thought that it was intentional, and I don’t think it’s necessary for this oddity to have been created on purpose to enjoy it."

"In fact, in some ways it’s more interesting if it just happened," he added. And it seems it did.

Sponsored Stories
Recommended by Zergnet