What's That Song In Severance Season 2 Episode 5?

"Severance" is the kind of show that begs viewers to pick apart every single scene and detail in search of clues. The "mystery box" approach is a tried and true TV formula, if a difficult one to pull off. But when you get the zeitgeist on your side, as "Severance" has, the audience's hunt for answers creates a unique and compelling viewing experience.

Because of that aspect of the show, many fans may have perked their ears up at the beginning of "Severance" season 2, episode 5, "Trojan's Horse." The episode begins with a new, unnamed character pushing a cart down the severed floor's pristine corridors to the Optics and Design department, where he's given what appears to be dental tools of some kind. Satisfied, he wheels the cart away and to the mysterious, ominous elevator that Irving (John Turturro) and his outie keep seeing. All the while, this nameless employee whistles a recognizable tune: "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot.

Is that particular choice of tune a clue to what's happening at Lumon? Does it tell us something about what lies beyond the scary elevator? Maybe, maybe not — but because it's fun, let's talk about it anyway.

Gordon Lightfoot was an acclaimed folk singer and songwriter from Canada who earned both major commercial success and immense critical praise over the course of his long career. Out of all his songs, 1976's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is probably his most famous. In it, Lightfoot details the real-life sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a Great Lakes freight ship, during a storm on Lake Superior in 1975. The event quickly became infamous, both because of Lightfoot's song becoming a huge hit and because of how gigantic and well-reputed the ship was. All 29 crew members died in the wreck. As Lightfoot put it in his song, "That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed when the gales of November came early."

"Severance" director and producer Ben Stiller is a big Gordon Lightfoot fan, and he discussed the song's inclusion in "Trojan's Horse" during an appearance on The New York Times podcast The Interview. When asked if the song held the keys to deciphering the show, Stiller laughed, saying, "I'm not going to say anything. I'm going to leave all options open." He emphasized, though, that his appreciation of Lightfoot's music may be more relevant here than some larger mystery.

Sure, Ben Stiller says we probably don't need to read into the show by analyzing "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," but hey, the show actively encourages speculation, so let's stretch a bit. The Edmund Fitzgerald primarily shipped iron ore. As a Great Lakes ship, and the largest one in the region for more than a decade, she was a central piece of the same middle-American industrial culture that "Severance" has taken aesthetic cues from since the beginning. The snowy company town where "Severance" takes place, the old-style cars, Lumon's political presence — it all harkens back to a certain era of American industry.

Looked at through that lens, you could see the song's inclusion as a reference to Lumon's own state of affairs. Just as the ship carried refined iron ore, the severed employees of Macrodata Refinement are refining ... macrodata? Something nefarious? We still don't know what the "scary" numbers mean, but there's certainly a thematic connection.

It's also worth noting that the apparently super-important file Mark (Adam Scott) has been working on at Lumon is called "Cold Harbor," which also seems of a piece with the subject matter of Lightfoot's song. Does the tune hold all the answers? Surely not, but it does fit quite well with the rest of "Severance" season 2's unique style and tone.