Dark Side of the Space Station
EXPERIMENT #26
"DARK SIDE OF THE SPACE STATION"
FILM
Star Wars (1995 "Faces" VHS).
ALBUM
Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd's 1973 magnum opus. One of the best-selling records of all-time. Considered a staple of suburban teenage life. Found new fame around the turn of the century after rumors began circulating concerning the album's alleged synchronicity with The Wizard of Oz. Band members claim the sixty-odd coincidences between the 1939 MGM classic and their record are purely coincidental.
On the first playthrough, I started DSOTM right after the second drumroll in the 20th Century Fox fanfare. Second time around was a little tricky; I hit "play" right after Threepio says, "I can't abide these Jawas."
SYNCHS
FIRST PLAYTHROUGH:
- The lyrics to "Breathe" start at the same moment the large explosion rocks the Tantive IV.
- The camera is on C-3PO, who is hoping to escape the pending Imperial attack, when we hear the lyric "don't leave me" in "Breathe."
- The lyric "choose your own ground" is heard in "Breathe" as the Rebel soldiers take their positions in the Tantive IV hallway.
- Darth Vader's first appearance coincides with the female voice on the intercom we hear at the beginning of "On the Run."
- As the escape pod zooms by the camera, a plane noise is heard in "On the Run."
- We hear the phrase "waiting for someone or something to show you the way" in "Time" as C-3PO wanders through the desert.
- As Threepio continues to wander through the scorching Tatooine desert, we hear the phrase "tired of lying in the sunshine" in "Time."
- During the reprise of "Breathe," we see the Jawas entering the sandcrawler as the lyric "home, home again" is heard.
- The woman's screaming in "The Great Gig in the Sky" intensifies as Luke hears Aunt Beru calling him; once Luke and Beru have spoken, the woman's screaming subsides.
- The aforementioned woman screams, "Oh, oh, OH-HO!" right after R5-D4 explodes.
- The woman finally stops screaming as Luke and the droids leave the Jawa auction.
- After Luke has his argument with Uncle Owen about staying on another season, he goes to stare into the Tatooine sunset. As he's doing this, a female voice at the end of "Time" says, "That geezer's cruisin' for a bruisin'" (obviously what Luke was thinking as he gazed into those two giant fireballs setting over the desert horizen).
- The first line of "Us and Them" is "us (us, us, us)....and them (them, them, them)." During the "us" part, the camera is on Luke and Threepio in the landspeeder. By the time it gets to the "them" part, Luke and Threepio are in the distance, and in the foreground we see two Tusken Raiders.
- At one point in "Us and Them," the word "you" is said, and it echoes a bit. During these echoes, Luke and Threepio look around as if they can hear them.
- The Tusken Raider attack coincides with the first heavy part of "Us and Them," the lyrics to which are "forward he cried from the rear/and the front rank died." As I have mentioned before, I have a sneaking suspicion Luke actually does die during the Tusken Raider attack, only to be resurrected by Obi-Wan later on.
- As Obi-Wan revives Luke, the word "up" is heard in "Us and Them."
- When Luke comes to, the lyric "in the end, it's only round and round and round" in "Us and Them" is heard, vaguely suggesting that Luke cheated death.
- In yet another moment during "Us and Them," the lyric "with...without" is heard. The camera is on Luke during "with," but it switches to Obi-Wan for "without." One could interpret this several ways; personally, I think it has something to do with the fact that "with" Luke is the power to defeat the Empire, and Obi-Wan is "without" it. Perhaps it means that the mantle of being part of Darth Vader's bloodline is "with" Luke and not Obi-Wan. Hell, it could mean that Luke isn't circumcised and Obi-Wan is "without" a foreskin. I don't know.
- As Obi-Wan is explaining to Luke that the Jawas were attacked by the Empire and not Tusken Raiders, the line "you rearrange me 'til I'm sane" is heard in "Brain Damage."
- The moment Luke realizes the Empire may have visited his Aunt and Uncle, the line "if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear" is heard in "Brain Damage."
- Someone says "I can't think of anything to say" as Luke looks upon his dead relatives.
- The closing heartbeat of the album is playing as Luke and Obi-Wan are stopped by the stormtroopers in Mos Eisley regarding their droids.
SECOND PLAYTHROUGH:
- We hear the line "waiting for someone or something to show you the way" in "Time" as Han Solo is trying to figure out the hyperspace coordinates.
- The solo in "Time" begins right as the Millennium Falcon jumps into hyperspace.
- We hear the words "lear jet" in "Money" as we see the Millennium Falcon flying across the screen.
- The first heavy part in "Us and Them" begins as the fight in the detention block breaks out; an Imperial guard is shot and killed as we hear the phrase "he died."
- The line "out of the way" is heard in "Us and Them" as Han jumps into the garbage chute.
- As R2-D2 sticks his little metal thingy into the socket to save the Rebels from the trash compactor, we hear the phrase "got to keep the loonies on the path" in "Brain Damage."
- The album's closing heartbeat is heard as Luke and Leia become trapped on that ledge, eventually having to swing across.
NOTES
Wow. This is the new king. Twenty-two synchs on the first go. Some real freaky stuff, too. Again, we aren't seeing Oz numbers, but even so, it begs the question: what is it about this album? Why is it so...synch-tastic, for lack of a better word? What else does it synch up with?
There's a whoe 'nother project - watching a different movie every day with Dark Side of the Moon. That ain't gonna be me, though. I felt drowsy after one spin. No way I could listen to this record five days a week. Uck. I'll leave that to someone else.
I am intrigued, though, certainly enough to try other Pink Floyd albums. I'm sure I could bang out a week of PF. Watch for that in the coming months.
"DARK SIDE OF THE SPACE STATION"
FILM
Star Wars (1995 "Faces" VHS).
ALBUM
Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd's 1973 magnum opus. One of the best-selling records of all-time. Considered a staple of suburban teenage life. Found new fame around the turn of the century after rumors began circulating concerning the album's alleged synchronicity with The Wizard of Oz. Band members claim the sixty-odd coincidences between the 1939 MGM classic and their record are purely coincidental.
On the first playthrough, I started DSOTM right after the second drumroll in the 20th Century Fox fanfare. Second time around was a little tricky; I hit "play" right after Threepio says, "I can't abide these Jawas."
SYNCHS
FIRST PLAYTHROUGH:
- The lyrics to "Breathe" start at the same moment the large explosion rocks the Tantive IV.
- The camera is on C-3PO, who is hoping to escape the pending Imperial attack, when we hear the lyric "don't leave me" in "Breathe."
- The lyric "choose your own ground" is heard in "Breathe" as the Rebel soldiers take their positions in the Tantive IV hallway.
- Darth Vader's first appearance coincides with the female voice on the intercom we hear at the beginning of "On the Run."
- As the escape pod zooms by the camera, a plane noise is heard in "On the Run."
- We hear the phrase "waiting for someone or something to show you the way" in "Time" as C-3PO wanders through the desert.
- As Threepio continues to wander through the scorching Tatooine desert, we hear the phrase "tired of lying in the sunshine" in "Time."
- During the reprise of "Breathe," we see the Jawas entering the sandcrawler as the lyric "home, home again" is heard.
- The woman's screaming in "The Great Gig in the Sky" intensifies as Luke hears Aunt Beru calling him; once Luke and Beru have spoken, the woman's screaming subsides.
- The aforementioned woman screams, "Oh, oh, OH-HO!" right after R5-D4 explodes.
- The woman finally stops screaming as Luke and the droids leave the Jawa auction.
- After Luke has his argument with Uncle Owen about staying on another season, he goes to stare into the Tatooine sunset. As he's doing this, a female voice at the end of "Time" says, "That geezer's cruisin' for a bruisin'" (obviously what Luke was thinking as he gazed into those two giant fireballs setting over the desert horizen).
- The first line of "Us and Them" is "us (us, us, us)....and them (them, them, them)." During the "us" part, the camera is on Luke and Threepio in the landspeeder. By the time it gets to the "them" part, Luke and Threepio are in the distance, and in the foreground we see two Tusken Raiders.
- At one point in "Us and Them," the word "you" is said, and it echoes a bit. During these echoes, Luke and Threepio look around as if they can hear them.
- The Tusken Raider attack coincides with the first heavy part of "Us and Them," the lyrics to which are "forward he cried from the rear/and the front rank died." As I have mentioned before, I have a sneaking suspicion Luke actually does die during the Tusken Raider attack, only to be resurrected by Obi-Wan later on.
- As Obi-Wan revives Luke, the word "up" is heard in "Us and Them."
- When Luke comes to, the lyric "in the end, it's only round and round and round" in "Us and Them" is heard, vaguely suggesting that Luke cheated death.
- In yet another moment during "Us and Them," the lyric "with...without" is heard. The camera is on Luke during "with," but it switches to Obi-Wan for "without." One could interpret this several ways; personally, I think it has something to do with the fact that "with" Luke is the power to defeat the Empire, and Obi-Wan is "without" it. Perhaps it means that the mantle of being part of Darth Vader's bloodline is "with" Luke and not Obi-Wan. Hell, it could mean that Luke isn't circumcised and Obi-Wan is "without" a foreskin. I don't know.
- As Obi-Wan is explaining to Luke that the Jawas were attacked by the Empire and not Tusken Raiders, the line "you rearrange me 'til I'm sane" is heard in "Brain Damage."
- The moment Luke realizes the Empire may have visited his Aunt and Uncle, the line "if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear" is heard in "Brain Damage."
- Someone says "I can't think of anything to say" as Luke looks upon his dead relatives.
- The closing heartbeat of the album is playing as Luke and Obi-Wan are stopped by the stormtroopers in Mos Eisley regarding their droids.
SECOND PLAYTHROUGH:
- We hear the line "waiting for someone or something to show you the way" in "Time" as Han Solo is trying to figure out the hyperspace coordinates.
- The solo in "Time" begins right as the Millennium Falcon jumps into hyperspace.
- We hear the words "lear jet" in "Money" as we see the Millennium Falcon flying across the screen.
- The first heavy part in "Us and Them" begins as the fight in the detention block breaks out; an Imperial guard is shot and killed as we hear the phrase "he died."
- The line "out of the way" is heard in "Us and Them" as Han jumps into the garbage chute.
- As R2-D2 sticks his little metal thingy into the socket to save the Rebels from the trash compactor, we hear the phrase "got to keep the loonies on the path" in "Brain Damage."
- The album's closing heartbeat is heard as Luke and Leia become trapped on that ledge, eventually having to swing across.
NOTES
Wow. This is the new king. Twenty-two synchs on the first go. Some real freaky stuff, too. Again, we aren't seeing Oz numbers, but even so, it begs the question: what is it about this album? Why is it so...synch-tastic, for lack of a better word? What else does it synch up with?
There's a whoe 'nother project - watching a different movie every day with Dark Side of the Moon. That ain't gonna be me, though. I felt drowsy after one spin. No way I could listen to this record five days a week. Uck. I'll leave that to someone else.
I am intrigued, though, certainly enough to try other Pink Floyd albums. I'm sure I could bang out a week of PF. Watch for that in the coming months.
posted by james at 5:05 PM
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