David Gilmour was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday night (November 7) and the former Pink Floyd guitarist/singer addressed the widespread theory that the band's 1973 hit album Dark Side of the Moon was purposely written to sync up to The Wizard of Oz. As the theory goes, if you start the record when the MGM lion roars, it syncs up perfectly with the rest of the film.
“Well, of course it was,” he joked when Fallon asked the question point blank. Gilmour went on to divulge that he and his wife, Polly Samson, have actually tested it out themselves. “We listened to it, Polly and I, years ago,” he explained before the host asked again if it syncs up on purpose. “No. I only heard about that years later,” Gilmour admitted.
He then explained what the theory entails to those who are unfamiliar. “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.”
“There are these strange coincidences,” he confessed.
Gilmour also performed "Dark and Velvet Nights" on the show, which marked his first US TV appearance in eight years. Watch the full interview and performance below.