Wake up, Fiery Scarecrow!
Last night I woke up to the phone ringing. It was 11:30 p.m. and I was out cold. I’m always nervous about answering the phone at that hour because everyone knows I get up really early (3:00 or 4:00 am) to go ballooning and it could only either be an emergency, or the occaisional call from Costa Rica from someone wanting to know if I want to place a bet (I have no idea why they call me, I don’t gamble and have no intention of EVER placing a bet by telephone — especially to some random casino in a foreign country).
I answer the phone and the voice on the other end sounded very juiced-up — almost out of breath with excitement. I’m still waking up and not fully registering the words, but the tone and urgency in the voice starts my heart racing. Finally, I’m able to put the words together:
“Hey! I’m watching The Wizard of Oz… with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon as a soundtrack… It’s GREAT!”
It was my buddy Bret. A few weeks ago I told him about turning the sound off while watching The Wizard of Oz and playing Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album as a soundtrack. If you start the Dark Side of the Moon album right after the 3rd roar of the MGM lion at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz it is uncanny how well the music goes with it.
Of course, it helps if you’ve seen The Wizard of Oz a few times and know what’s going on during the scenes without the help of the dialog. It also helps to be a fan of Dark Side of the Moon. Otherwise, you might not fully appreciate the multitude of coincidences.
For instance, if you don’t know that Dorothy is running away from home, you won’t think it’s interesting when the lyrics say, “run… rabbit run…” or when Professor Marvel reads her fortune and tells her she needs to go home, it won’t be as interesting when the lyrics say, “home… home again…”
One of my favorite parts is when the scarecrow is dancing around like a lunatic and the lyrics are saying, “the lunatic is on the grass…” And what song title would be a more appropriate soundtrack during the scarecrow scene than Brain Damage. LOL
But, I digress…
After I realized the phone call was not an emergency, I relaxed a little bit and, to tell you the truth, can only recall portions of the conversation. I guess I nodded off a couple of times during the dialog.
I do remember him telling me about some incredible automatons from the late 1800’s that were featured in a YouTube video or something.
Anyway, the reason I’m telling you all this is because after I hung up the phone I immediately fell back asleep and had one of the most bizarre dreams I’ve ever had:
I was a robotic scarecrow chasing people through a corn field. And, yes, I could breathe fire.
The most disturbing part, though, was that I actually enjoyed being a fire-breathing mechanical scarecrow.
I think maybe I need to get laid.
The Wizard of Oz (70th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition)
Dead Rooster is the online home of 
I can help you with that last part…
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William McCamment
reply on November 24th, 2009 10:02 am:
Of course baby! You’re my girl!
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Whoa…I’m not giving you a proposition like the last commenter. Will just say I had heard that about Wizard of Oz and Dark Side of the Moon. Never believed it…
…until now. If Dead Rooster says it is true, it must be true.
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William McCamment
reply on November 24th, 2009 10:16 am:
Oh, it’s true, just make sure you start the CD immediately after the third roar of the the MGM lion at the beginning, otherwise the synchronization will be off.
Like I pointed out in the post, you have to know the dialog with the sound off to realize the unbelievable coincidences. A lot of people don’t get it because they don’t know what’s going on in the story or they don’t know the lyrics or song titles. That’s the key.
Lyrics during the introduction of the Wicked Witch “Which is which…”
Right after Dorothy beats on the Tin Man’s chest and puts her ear up to it, the sound effect on the CD is that of a heartbeat.
Scarecrow needs a brain… song playing during his scene… BRAIN DAMAGE!
I could seriously go on and on…
The best part, though, is during the song, “Money.” It has to be seen to be believed.
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wow wow, how many years ago I saw this film last time *dreaming* ) I like Hollywood 20-30 years movies
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Can’t help but wonder what sort of exposure to culture your friend has if he wasn’t aware of the Floyd/Oz correlation.
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I was, but a teenager when an older and wiser soul demonstrated to me the wonders of Dark Side of the Moon overlayed on the Wizard of Oz. I am not surprised at all that you found yourself dreaming about being a robotic chicken chasing people through a cornfield and breathing fire. I know it was meant to sound strange, but to me it sounds right as rain.
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