Music in Severance

Music plays an important role throughout Severance, not only for setting the mood and tone of any given scene, but also for the creative way that music is woven into the story itself.

Main Article: Severance Soundtrack

The Season 1 score (released by Apple as the ”soundtrack”) was composed by Theodore Shapiro and consists of 19 pieces that are mainly a mix of piano and synthesizer. The stuttering sound effect that is accompanied by flickering edits between two scenes or (fritz cuts) is built into the score, and not a sound effect layered onto the scene in post-production,

• The music played during Wellness Center sessions was released as a standalone track (“Music of Wellness”). This piece is another ambient/synth mix and is universally lauded for its relaxing properties.
• The music Irving Bailiff listens to as he paints is “Ace of Spades” by Motörhead.
• The song that plays when Petey collapses in Mark's shower and leads into the credits is “Daydream in Blue” by I Monster.^[1]
• The Elevator allergy song is referenced by Petey in the episode In Perpetuity.^[2]
• A slowed-down, keyboard-based version of “Ace of Spades” by Motorhead can be heard when Irving dozes off at work and dreams of the black goo. It is being played at about 35% of actual speed. The same song is used by Outie-Irv when he is painting only then it's the original guitar-based version played at full speed.
• The song that plays during the visitation before Petey's funeral service is “Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me” by Mac Davis.^[3]
• The “Kier anthem” is sung or hummed by Cobel in times of great stress.^[4] The underscore plays as Cobel prays to her Kier shrine,^[5] and the underscore can also be heard mixed into the score track “The Four Tempers” during the Waffle Party.^[6]. Cobel-as-Selvig also sings snippet of it to calm Baby Eleanor during her Lactation Consultant interview in “Hide and Seek.” ^[7].
• ”Fuck You, Lumon“ is performed by Fissureman, a punk band (played by real life NYC supergroup Dollhouse) featuring June Kilmer on bass. Margaret Chardiet, who is the actual bassist for Dollhouse, also appears on stage with the band. ^[8]
• The “Defiant Jazz” track played during the Music/Dance Experience is “Shakey Jake” by Joe McPhee on his album Nation Time.^[9]
• Innie Retirement Song No. 19 track played during Burt's retirement party is Paul Anka's “The Times of Your Life.”^[10]
• The song that plays as Mark reassembles his photograph of Gemma is “I'll Be Seeing You” by Billie Holiday.^[11] The same song can be heard playing in the background during Mark's first date with Alexa.^[12]
• The music that plays during the credits of the season 1 finale is “Your Mind Is On Vacation” by Mose Allison.^[13]

Composer Theodore Shapiro won the 2022 Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series/Dramatic Score.

Fun Tweet with Severance theme on multiple psalters: https://twitter.com/folksongs68/status/1552046402103980032?s=20&t=k2XOIe7Qzig7t4GAWJnK-g