"This is for you, Chrissy."
"THIS! IS! MUSIC!"
— Eddie Munson, speaking for metalheads everywhere, "Papa"
A show as awesome as Stranger Things has some naturally awesome music to accompany it, both from The '80s and original to the show.
Awesome Music pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.
- The soundtrack is a perfect emulation of '80s movie scores with a strong John Carpenter/Tangerine Dream influence. The theme tune
sets the tone for the show, being both spooky and synth-y. Even better, Tangerine Dream did a cover on the main theme. - "Kids" is a fan favorite. It plays at the beginning of the first episode, and more than a few viewers were hooked just by the track alone. By the end of the first season, it became the theme for the Party.
- "Eleven" becomes a Tear Jerker after you've watched the finale of Season 1. Then there's the track that plays during her Heroic Sacrifice...
- There are several great songs from the era, with "Should I Stay or Should I Go" even getting to be a plot point as Will's favorite song.
- New Order's "Elegia" is put to effective use during (Fake) Will's funeral.
- Jonathan listens to Joy Division's "Atmosphere" when coming to terms with his brother's apparent death.
- "Nocturnal Me" by Echo and the Bunnymen plays as Nancy gets trapped in the Upside Down along with the Demogorgon.
- The moment of utter confusion and devastation and emotional catharsis that happens at the end of episode three when Will's not-body is found... and the phenomenal cover Peter Gabriel renders of David Bowie's "Heroes" plays. This one also has a reprise in the Season 3 finale.
- In "The Lost Sister", Kali and her gang including Eleven in full punk garb robbing a gas station to the tune of The Runaways' "Dead End Justice". (Especially since it averts Nothing but Hits by not playing "Cherry Bomb" off the same album.)
- Also in "The Lost Sister", "Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)" from the Icicle Works when El hitches a bus back to Hawkins.
- The Snow Ball in "The Gate" has "Time After Time" and "Every Breath You Take". The latter may seem an odd choice, until the final shot of the episode, where we see that the Mind Flayer seems to be observing the kids from the Upside Down.
- The plot-resonant "Love Is A Battlefield" and Olivia Newton-John's "Twist of Fate" also plays when Steve is dropping off Dustin at the Snowball.
- In the very first episode of season 2, the lyrics of Oingo Boingo's "Just Another Day" encapsulate a lot of what the second season's atmosphere is all about.
- The lovely cue "Eight-Fifteen" underscores one of the most heartwarming moments in Season 2 – the revelation at the end of the first episode that El survived her confrontation with the Demogorgon and Hopper has effectively adopted her.
- The Bangles' cover of "Hazy Shade of Winter" really makes the end of episode two of the first season pop.
- Billy's introduction is scored to "Rock You Like a Hurricane" by Scorpions, the defiant lyrics and guitars giving him a dramatic entrance in the mundane setting of a high school parking lot.
- The hauntingly beautiful "Outside the Realm" that plays when Jonathan is helping a drunk Nancy to bed in season 2 episode 2 and when Kali shows Eleven a butterfly illusion in season 2 episode 7.
- "Eulogy", which plays during some of season 2's biggest Tear Jerkers (Nancy crying in Barb's parents' bathroom, Mike looking over the toys he showed Eleven, the group reacting to Bob's death), is breathtaking.
- The remix of "Baba O'Riley" by The Who that plays over the season 3 trailer is an epic, cinematic update to an already incredible song that perfectly suits the season's Coming of Age Story mood.
- "Satyagraha - Act II: Tagore", an absolutely hellish and epic operatic theme which plays over the ending of E Pluribus Unum as the Mind Flayer speaks to Eleven through Billy while assimilating the Flayed into a single massive final form.
- The ominous "White Army, Black Baron" that plays in the Cold Open of Season 3, introducing the Soviet Union.
- Dustin finally makes contact with Mike's group via walkie-talkie, having left Erica and a drugged Steve and Robin watching Back to the Future in a movie theater. At this point, the show starts a seemingly diegetic use of Alan Silvestri's outstanding tense film score running in the background as Dustin frantically explains everything (a nod itself to Marty and Doc's conversations from said film), fitting in time with on-screen developments (such as panning from Dustin and Erica to show Steve and Robin have gone missing).
- Dustin and Suzie perform an adorable rendition of the theme from The Neverending Story, which turns epic when the actual orchestration from the song comes in.
- "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" is so catchy and badass, it's become Hopper's theme song. It sums his character up pretty well, too.
- The end credits for "Trick or Treat, Freak" are set to Ghostbusters' iconic theme song, which both lightens the mood after the episode's darker moments and fits the Halloween Episode like a glove.
- "Starcourt", a beautiful and soaring piece that plays when the titular mall is shown in full for the first time in the beginning of Season 3. The bass and synths echo '80s teen movies, adding to the nostalgia.
- "The Upside Down" and "Walking Through the Upside Down" are both spine-chillingly haunting tunes that perfectly capture just how terrifying the titular Eldritch Location really is.
- The trailer for Season 4 features a haunting rendition of Journey's "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)". It later plays near the end of the season's penultimate episode, setting up for the epic climax.
- The epic reprise of "She'll Kill You" (which is essentially Eleven's superhero theme) during a flashback to 1979 when an eight-year-old El unlocks her full abilities for the first time, defeating Henry Creel by telekinetically throwing him into a wall and then banishing him to the Upside Down. What makes this even more awesome is that it's implied this is the moment El regains her powers in the present.
- Philip Glass returns in Season 4 with "Prophecies", the final movement to the soundtrack to Koyaanisqatsi, and "The Window of Appearances" from the 1983 opera Akhnaten, both of which play during Henry Creel's flashback to his childhood to set the mood. They feature Ominous Hopi/Ancient Egyptian Chanting.
- Max's escape from Vecna's realm, set to Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)", is a solid contender for the best moment from season 4. The slowed-down instrumental version played over the credits is also mesmerizing. This led to a resurgence in popularity for the song, as it returned to the music charts and charted higher than it did upon its original release, reaching number one in several countries. The song would later be pivotal and iconic in Vecna's defeat, remixed with an epic theme.
- There's a beautiful version of Eleven's theme at the end of Season 4 Episode 8 when Eleven finally rejects Brenner and he dies.
- Eddie shreds "Master of Puppets" in the Season 4 finale, drawing the demobats in the Upside Down. Even better is that, aside from a bit of the guitar solo, Joseph Quinn was actually playing the chords in the scene!
- The Season 4 finale credits are set to Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Spellbound", setting an ominous tone as the characters (and audience) prepare for the final season.
- Rob Simonsen's orchestral remix of the main theme plays over various shots of the Upside Down merging with Hawkins, successfully setting the tone for an apocalyptic final season.
