Our Music of the Week takes us back to the magical Sixties and one of the great singers of “blue-eyed soul,” jazz, and pop ballads: Dusty Springfield. Elton John called London-born Mary O’Brien, aka Dusty Springfield, “the greatest white singer there ever has been.” Springfield was indeed hugely popular on both sides of the pond, with a number of her songs even released in other languages such as French, Italian, and German.

“The Windmills of Your Mind” is a mysterious ballad with music written by French composer Michel Legrand. Featured in the film The Thomas Crown Affair, it won the Academy Award for “Best Original Song” in 1968. Its lyrics were written as a “stream of consciousness” and may portray the state of mind when thoughts cannot be switched off and continue to circle and float in endless self-talk.

Dusty Springfield’s version of the song is probably the best rendering out there, even if her own manager alleged that Dusty never liked it because she couldn’t identify with the words.

Related:

Dusty Springfield on Wikipedia

The Windmills of Your Mind on Wikipedia

Lyrics of the song

views: 5