British recording artist, music producer, remixer, DJ, as well as classical… Read Full Bio ↴British recording artist, music producer, remixer, DJ, as well as classically trained pianist and cellist. One half of the ground-breaking electronic acts Global Communication, Link & E621, Reload & E621, Jedi Knights, The Chameleon, and Secret Ingredients, all with Mark Pritchard. As a solo artist Tom releases/has released as Amba, Cosmos, The Mod Wheel, Schizophrenia, Kix, Cheeky Chunes, The Rebus Project, Spiritcatcher and most recently as GCOM. Other collaborations include Fogcity with Mark Darby and Matthew Herbert, The Bays, Robortom with Rob Da Bank, and Aphex Twin with whom Middleton co-produced the track "En Trance To Exit" from the seminal "Analogue Bubblebath" EP.

The Windmills of Your Mind
Tom Middleton Lyrics

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Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain, or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that's turning running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!

Like a tunnel that you follow to a tunnel of its own
Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!

Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said?
Lovers walking along a shore and leave their footprints in the sand
Is the sound of distant drumming just the fingers of your hand?
Pictures hanging in a hallway and the fragment of a song
Half remembered names and faces, but to whom do they belong?
When you knew that it was over you were suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning to the color of her hair!
Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel

As the images unwind, like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind!

Overall Meaning

"The Windmills of Your Mind" by Tom Middleton is an existential love song that explores the complex nature of human thought and the endless patterns that our brains create. Throughout the lyrics, the song references the cyclical and circular nature of life, likening it to objects and experiences that revolve, repeat, and turn. The song starts by comparing life to a wheel within a wheel, spiraling endlessly and without clear origin or endpoint. The circular motion is exemplified by a snowball rolling downhill, a carnival balloon caught in the wind, and a carousel that turns around the moon. The song also references time as a clock whose hands sweep past the minutes of its face, creating round and repetitive motion that signifies the passing of life.
The second verse further explores the idea of circularity by comparing it to the endless twisting tunnels in the mind. The lyrics illustrate a door that keeps revolving in a forgotten dream and the ripples caused by tossing a pebble in a stream. These references to tunnels and water highlight the flowing and cyclical nature of the mind, and how our thoughts can endlessly turn back on themselves. The third verse brings in more concrete imagery such as keys jingling in pockets and footprints left in the sand by lovers. The song also touches on memory as pictures hanging in a hallway and half-remembered names and faces. The final lines of the song return to circular motion as leaves turn the color of a lost love's hair, bringing the song full circle to the start.
Overall, "The Windmills of Your Mind" is a thought-provoking exploration of the circular and repetitive nature of the human experience. The lyrics paint a picture of the mind endlessly spinning and turning, caught in a whirlwind of memories, thoughts, and emotions.

Line by Line Meaning

Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Life circles on and on, with no clear beginning or end, much like a wheel that spins within another.

Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
Life continues to spin like a reel without any fixed starting or ending point.

Like a snowball down a mountain, or a carnival balloon
Like a snowball that grows in size as it rolls down a mountain, or like a balloon that rises higher and higher above a carnival crowd, life unfolds in unexpected ways.

Like a carousel that's turning running rings around the moon
Life seems like a ride on a spinning carousel, endlessly orbiting and circling around the moon.

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
Time keeps ticking away, with the hands of the clock sweeping past each minute on its face, an unstoppable force that moves without pause or break.

And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
The world we live in is like a whirling apple floating and revolving in the vast, silent expanse of space.

Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!
Just like how circles can be found in the intricate pattern of a windmill, we can find patterns and themes that repeat in our own lives.

Like a tunnel that you follow to a tunnel of its own
Our lives are like tunnels leading to more tunnels, with no clear endpoint or destination.

Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shone
In life, we may find ourselves in dark, hollow caverns where light has never shone and where we struggle to see a way out.

Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream
Dreams and memories can sometimes be like a revolving door, with images, thoughts and feelings of the past forever circling back around to haunt us.

Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream
A small action, like throwing a pebble into a stream, can cause ripples that spread and grow, eventually impacting the course of our lives.

Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head
Small things, like the sound of keys or a jangling thought in our head, can have a profound impact on our mood and perception.

Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said?
Sometimes time seems to fly by so quickly that we barely notice it passing, and we're left wondering what caused it to disappear so fast.

Lovers walking along a shore and leave their footprints in the sand
Love leaves its mark on us, like footprints left behind on a sandy shore.

Is the sound of distant drumming just the fingers of your hand?
Things that seem mysterious, distant or external may in fact be closer, more personal or more within our control than we realize.

Pictures hanging in a hallway and the fragment of a song
Memories, like pictures and songs, can spark sensations and emotions, even if they're fragmented and incomplete.

Half remembered names and faces, but to whom do they belong?
We may encounter people or things that we feel a sense of familiarity with, but struggle to place them in our memory or understand their significance.

When you knew that it was over you were suddenly aware
Sometimes, it takes the loss of something to make us fully realize its value and impact on our lives.

That the autumn leaves were turning to the color of her hair!
Nature's cycles, from the falling of leaves in the autumn to the changing color of hair and skin, mirror the changing states and rhythms of our lives.

As the images unwind, like the circles that you find
Just as the images of our lives may start to spiral out of control, so too can we find circles and patterns in that same chaos and disorder.

In the windmills of your mind!
All of these thoughts, memories and sensations combine to form the rich tapestry of our minds, a complex and ever-changing system that creates the story of our lives.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand, Alan Bergman

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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