What does the Windmills Of Your Mind song mean in Severance Season 2 finale? Details explored

The last episode of Severance Season 2 has the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" by Mel Tormé in a climactic scene between Mark and Helly. The use of the song has been debated as to whether it is thematically relevant to the entire show.

Initially written by Michel Legrand, whose English lyrics were adapted by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, the song features repetitive and abstract imagery. Putting the song at the end of the show contains the show's themes of memory, identity, and repetition and extends the rich psychological life of the characters.

Incorporating a repetitive looped piece of music does much to drive home the fact that the characters are trapped in an endless circle, one of the main concepts of Severance's story.

Origins and interpretation of the song in Severance Season 2

"The Windmills of Your Mind" began with the 1968 movie The Thomas Crown Affair. Its melody is characterized by poetic lyrics, which bring out the feel of spiral circles, thinking, and the passage of time. Its spiral and circular imagery has traditionally been explained as a symbol of profound meditation and constant thought. Its quaintly melodious quality brings with it the sense, thus its usage in occasions of questioning and uncertainty.

The song has been covered by many artists over the years, and each cover adds a special emotional value. The song remains a favorite among film directors and TV producers who deal with themes of inner conflict and the attempt to make sense of fragmented reality even today.

Relevance of the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" to Severance Season 2

The selection of this song for the Severance Season 2 finale is utilized to emphasize the psychological and emotional states of the characters. The lyrics, which talk about continuous cycles and repetitive thought patterns, resonate with the lives of the severed workers, who are leading double lives and having fragmented memories.

The looping nature of the song is reflective of Severance's architecture, where characters are stuck in what seems like an infinite loop of events orchestrated by their corporate universe. The song is an auditory representation of their existence—a life governed by rules beyond their control, where memories constantly get erased or recur in twisted forms.

Director's choice and interpretation

Director of Severance Ben Stiller and the cast of Severance narrowed down a list of songs before selecting "The Windmills of Your Mind." The song was chosen to introduce the spinning aspect of the severance process alongside the disturbed identity and control questions in the series' plot.

In an interview covered by UPROXX, Stiller discussed that they desired a song that was haunting as well as reflective, and they ended up with Tormé's version due to its surreal blend of sorrow and enigma. He said,

"I don’t know if I’m turning into my parents, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten into this Mel Tormé era. He was amazing. This was obviously the biggest music cue for the show, where it’s like, what are you going to go out on? But in this hellish prison of these hallways, where are they going to? I was looking for the juxtaposition of the craziness of that with a hopeful song."

The position of the song during the finale is intentional, providing an emotional undertone to what is being displayed on screen as well as underlining the overall themes of Severance.

Relation to the themes of the Severance Season 2

The language employed in the song lyrics, including "round like a circle in a spiral" and "like a wheel within a wheel," reflects Severance's overarching themes. The language describes the circularity of the characters' lives in Lumon Industries and how they attempt to escape controlled spaces.

The composition of the song, which recurs upon itself again and again with no definite end, is just like the lives of the terminated employees. Their lives are split into two vastly different worlds but are never in control of either entirely. This leaves them feeling trapped for life, as much as the windmills in the song's verses that turn endlessly without stopping.

Similarities to the Thomas Crown Affair

The song was actually used in The Thomas Crown Affair, which was a film about a man leading a double life. This connection reinforces the duality of the amputated workers surviving Severance and again emphasizes the blurring between their "innie" and "outie" selves.

In The Thomas Crown Affair, the hero exists in two worlds, changing selves to get his wants. Likewise, in Severance, the workers at Lumon have to survive with their divided minds, reconnecting their orderly work self and their exterior selves. The repetition of the song in the two books drives home how prevalent these themes are and the lot of human beings caught in between two opposing realities.

The psychological effect of the use of the song

Besides its lyrical interpretation, "The Windmills of Your Mind" also possesses a psychological impact that heightens the emotional tension of the moment. The hypnotic rhythm of the music builds tension, and the audience is left with the impression that they are trapped in an unstoppable cycle as well. This heightens the tension in the climax, making the uncertainty of what comes next for the characters absolute.

The deployment of a song that is traditionally associated with inner turmoil and duality thus goes towards cutting short Severance's determination to present harsh psychological struggles. It invites everyone not only to unravel the state of the characters but also their conception of truth and identity.

Using "The Windmills of Your Mind" as the Season finale serves to underscore its themes of perception, memory, and identity. The song's abstractness is an analog for the multi-layered storytelling of the show, making it an intellectual season finale that leaves audiences.

Its application brings out the themes of the show to the fullest, and thus, it is an apt and powerful selection as the series finale.