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I
suppose the best place to start this is with an introduction. I am Neon,
baby sister of the goddess of geeks . . . Nitty. When Nitty approached me about
writing a page for her site, I said, "Great, what should I write about"?
We decided that I would write a movie review.
Since Nitty
and I share the curse of procrastination, I decided to put it off for a few
days. As time passed, I decided it might be a good thing to at least choose
a movie. I decided to select a movie that was an old friend. I chose the
cinematic treasure "The Wizard of Oz." About the same time, I read an article
in the local paper about The Wizard of Oz/Dark Side of the Moon connection.
So, after many, many, months of deep contemplation (not really, but it sounds
better than procrastination), I wrote this up. The Wizard of Oz has always been magical to
me. Every year I looked forward to watching it on television (yes, I am
older than video). I loved it because it had a dark-haired heroine, it
was deliciously frightening, and it had witches in it. I was never sure
if I wanted to be Dorothy or the Wicked Witch. As I've grown up, I've decided
the WW is closer to my heart. I present to you my thoughts on the WOO/DSM
experience.
One crucial aspect of the WOO/DSM experience
is timing. It is important to begin the CD at the end of the third, final
roar of the MGM lion. After several attempts to synchronize the video and
the CD, I muted the film sound and settled in on my couch on a warm midsummer
evening to watch the film. I was all set with my DSM liner notes and my
legal pad. The opening credits of the film began to roll to the heartbeats
and ticking of Speak to Me. The familiar black-and-white farm scenes
begin with the song Breathe. Dorothy is talking with the farm hands,
then begins to walk the fence rail. The lyric "And balanced on the biggest
wave You race towards an early grave" plays as Dorothy loses her balance
and falls from the fence.
The song "On
the Run" sounds the alarm when Miss Gulch, aka the Wicked Witch of
the West, appears. The tempo follows the bickering between Miss Gulch, Dorothy,
and Auntie Em.
Dorothy makes
her decision to run away with Toto during the song "Time."Toto
escapes Miss Gulch and jumps through Dorothy's window to join her to the
lyric "Waiting for someone or something to show you the way."
The two set off
together and meet up with Professor Marvel, who looks into his crystal
ball and tells Dorothy that she is needed at home. The "Breathe Reprise"
plays:
"Home,
home again
I like to be
here when I can
When I come home
cold and tired
It's good to
warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across
the field
The tolling of
the iron bell
Calls the faithful
to their knees
To hear the softly
spoken magic spells."
The fourth track,
The Great Gig in the Sky, plays as the tornado builds. The vocals by
Clare Torry peak as the tornado sweeps Dorothy and her home up into its
vortex.
The opening cash
register cha-chings on Money as Dorothy opens the door and the film
changes into vivid color. Dorothy steps into the rich, Technicolor world
and Glinda glides down in her bubble to the lyric "And I think I need a
Lear jet."
The song Us
and Them plays during Dorothy's encounter with the munchkins and the
Wicked Witch of the West. The lyric "Black and blue/And who knows which
and which and who is who" plays as Glinda explains that Dorothy has dropped
the house on the witch's sister. The line "Up and down" plays as the camera
aims downward at the ruby slippers. "Down and Out" plays as Glinda fades
out in her bubble and Dorothy begin down the yellow brick road.
The track Any
Color You Like plays as Dorothy continues her journey along the vividly
colored brick road.
Brain Damage
starts and Dorothy meets up with the Scarecrow, who begins flopping and
flailing about on the ground to the lyrics "The lunatic is on the grass."
Dorothy and the Scarecrow begin their journey down the brick road to the
lyric "Got to keep the loonies on the path." The song ends with "I'll see
you on the dark side of the moon" and then leads into Eclipse.
The CD ends with
the beating of a heart as Dorothy listens to the Tin Man's chest.
I set the CD
to continuous play and was surprised to find other instances where the
songs and the actions seemed to be in sync.
I was prepared
to be skeptical of this. Instead, I found myself re-discovering a favorite
old film and a great CD.
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|
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| A great Wizard of Oz/Dark Side site. | |
| Another Wizard of Oz/Dark Side of the Moon site | |
| Wendy's Wonderful Wizard of Oz site. This one is huge and has scripts, pictures, sounds, and more! | |
| Virtual Reality Moon Phase Pictures. Take a look at the dark side and view the moon phase for any date and time. | |
| The
Steely Dan Internet Resource Page. Just cause I felt like including this
and I know my friend John likes the publicity.
http://pages.prodigy.com/steelydan/ |
