One of rock and roll's greatest theories is that Pink Floyd recorded their seminal 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, to sync up with the 1939 cinematic classic, The Wizard of Oz.
For years the two have been played together at screenings across the world, following a theory first suggested in 1995 by writer Charles Savage in a piece he wrote for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. While Savage has since disowned the article, many fans have embraced and celebrated the idea.
Appearing on The Tonight Show Thursday (November 7), host Jimmy Fallon asked Gilmour if the album was intentionally designed to sync up with Victor Fleming's film.
“Well, of course it was,” Gilmour said with a laugh. “We listened to it, Polly [Samson, his wife] and I, years ago."
But the truth is, the fact that the two works of art line up so well together is purely by coincidence.
“No. I only heard about that years later," Gilmour clarified. “Someone said you put the needle on … and on the third roar of the MGM lion, you put the needle on for the beginning of Dark Side and there’s these strange synchronicities that happen.”
Gilmour, who was appearing to promote his new album, Luck and Strange, added, “There are these strange coincidences.”
When Fallon suggested that maybe Luck and Strange could sync nicely with the upcoming movie adaptation of the Oz prequel Wicked, Gilmour played along and replied, “Who knows?”
Watch the interview below.