All the music of Stranger Things season 1: the playlist episode by episode
Season 1 · Music · The 1983 playlist
The first season sets the rule: a synthesizer theme for fear, songs from before November 1983 for life. The Clash, Peter Gabriel, Jefferson Airplane, Toto and the Bangles make up the Hawkins playlist. Here is where each track appears.
The essentials
- Composers: Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein
- Signature song: Should I Stay or Should I Go, The Clash
- Cult music scene: the body in the quarry on Heroes
- End credits: Hazy Shade of Winter, The Bangles (episode 8)
Contents
The theme and the soundtrack
The title sequence, an analog synthesizer arpeggio by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, opens every episode. The soundtrack of season 1, published in two volumes, contains the themes the show will reuse for ten years: Eleven's, the Upside Down's, the lab's. The record won a Grammy in 2018.
The season is the one where the original music is most present: period songs are rare there and therefore all the more striking.
The Hawkins 1983 T-shirt, for the original playlist.
In the shopKids' Demogorgon Hunter 1983 T-shirt24,90 €See the product
Should I Stay or Should I Go: Will's song
It is the song Jonathan introduced to Will, and the one Will sings to reassure himself in his fort, Castle Byers. It starts playing on its own in the Byers house, from the Upside Down, when Joyce is looking for her son, and comes back in the finale during the monster assault. Released in 1982, it is the only song of the season to act in the story.
A writing choiceThe Duffers wrote the house scene around the song: the title, “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”, is Will's question, stuck between two worlds.
The playlist, episode by episode
| Episode | Song | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Should I Stay or Should I Go — The Clash | Will and Jonathan, the bedroom |
| 2 | Africa — Toto | Steve and Nancy in Steve's bedroom |
| 2 | I Melt with You — Modern English | The party at the edge of the pool |
| 3 | Heroes — Peter Gabriel | The body of “Will” pulled from the quarry |
| 4 | Waiting for a Girl Like You — Foreigner | Steve at Nancy's |
| 6 | White Rabbit — Jefferson Airplane | Terry Ives, the experiments in flashback |
| 8 | Hazy Shade of Winter — The Bangles | End-credit sequence of the season |
All these songs predate November 1983, with one intended exception: Peter Gabriel's cover of Heroes dates from 2010. The Duffers kept it because it was on their demo tape, and because its slowness suited the quarry scene.
Heroes, the quarry scene
Episode 3: the police pull a body from the quarry, Joyce and Hopper watch, Mike goes home crying, Eleven consoles him. Over Peter Gabriel's version, almost whispered, the scene is the show's first great emotional moment, and the proof it can play something other than fear. The track was reused, in 2016, in hundreds of fan videos.
What season 1 locks in for what follows
The rule of the song that crosses worlds, set with The Clash, will be picked up by Kate Bush and Metallica in Season 4. The synthesizer soundtrack will remain the sonic signature of the show. And the end credits, given to a period hit, will become a ritual: each season ends on a song.
The Will figure, The Clash singer.
In the shopLego Will Byers mini figure and his blue bike14,90 €See the product
Survive: how two Austin musicians got the job
Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein are two members of Survive, an electronic-music group from Austin, Texas. The Duffers had been fans of the group for a long time: they had used their track “Dirge” in the fake trailer that sold the show. Once the project was picked up, in July 2015, they asked the group if it was still making music. Dixon and Stein sent dozens of tracks from their catalog, which got them the job.
The title theme comes from an unused piece Stein had composed well before, found in that library: the team judged that with a little work, it would make a title sequence. Hired before casting, the two composers supplied character-theme demos that were played over audition tapes, and helped with the choice of actors.
Their score pays homage to 80s synthesizers: Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Goblin, John Carpenter, Giorgio Moroder. The original soundtrack of season 1, 75 tracks in two volumes, was released by Lakeshore Records on August 10 and 19, 2016 digitally, then on disc on September 16 and 23.
The period songs, and where they fall
| Song | Artist, year | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Should I Stay or Should I Go" | The Clash, 1982 | Will and Jonathan's song, played when Will talks to Joyce from the Upside Down |
| "Africa" | Toto, 1982 | The party at Steve's, episode 2 |
| “Heroes” | Peter Gabriel, a David Bowie cover | The fake body pulled from the quarry, episode 3 |
| "Hazy Shade of Winter" | The Bangles, 1987 | The last episode's end credits |
| "Elegia" | New Order, 1985 | Will's funeral, episode 4 |
| "Nocturnal Me" | Echo and the Bunnymen, 1984 | The night at the quarry, episode 3 |
| "Waiting for a Girl Like You" | Foreigner, 1981 | Nancy and Steve, episode 2 |
| "Sunglasses at Night" | Corey Hart, 1983 | In the car, episode 2 |
Music supervisor Nora Felder chose “Should I Stay or Should I Go” precisely for the hinge moments: the question in the title, stay or go, is Will's, stuck between two worlds. The show allows itself an exception to its period-song rule with the Bangles, whose cover dates from 1987; it plays over the end credits, outside the story.
The method: themes by character
Dixon and Stein worked by motifs. Each character or situation receives a cell of a few notes, taken up and varied from one episode to the next: a motif for Eleven, one for the lab, one for fear, all played on analog machines. Part of the score comes from older pieces by the group, reworked for the show; the other was written for the occasion.
That economy explains the sonic unity of the season. The music does not underline the scenes, it installs a continuous climate, between Italian horror cinema and 80s French science fiction, and leaves period songs the job of dating the action precisely.
The Season 1 poster, lights on.
In the shopBeige Demogorgon Hunter since 1983 sweater63,90 €See the product
TakeawayTheme and score by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, Grammy-winning. Should I Stay or Should I Go, Will's song, acts in the story. Heroes (Peter Gabriel) accompanies the quarry scene. Hazy Shade of Winter closes the season.
Frequently asked questions
What is Will's song in season 1?
Should I Stay or Should I Go, by The Clash (1982), which Jonathan introduced him to and which plays alone in the Byers house.
What song plays when they pull the body out?
Heroes, in Peter Gabriel's cover (2010), episode 3.
Who composed the music of season 1?
Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein. The soundtrack won a Grammy in 2018.
What song closes season 1?
Hazy Shade of Winter, by The Bangles, over the end credits of episode 8.
How were Dixon and Stein hired?
The Duffers, fans of their band Survive, had used their track “Dirge” in the fake trailer for the show. In July 2015, they contacted them; the dozens of tracks sent got them the job.
When did the season 1 original score come out?
In two volumes, August 10 and 19, 2016 digitally, then September 16 and 23 on disc, at Lakeshore Records: 75 tracks in all.