All the music of Stranger Things season 4: the playlist episode by episode
Season 4 · Music · The 1986 playlist
No season has given as much room to music: in 1986, a song protects from Vecna, a guitar solo creates a diversion, and two tracks thirty-six years old return to the top of the world charts. Here is the season 4 playlist, episode by episode.
The essentials
- Composers: Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, with choir and strings for Vecna
- Max's song: Running Up That Hill, Kate Bush
- Eddie's solo: Master of Puppets, Metallica
- Victor Creel's song: Dream a Little Dream of Me, Ella Fitzgerald
Contents
The soundtrack: Vecna has his theme
For season 4, Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein added choirs and strings to the synthesizer: Vecna's theme, a low wash with a clock, and the Creel house motif. The score, published as a double album, is the darkest of the show, and the most orchestral. Eleven's theme returns in the Nina Project scenes, rearranged on piano.
Max's T-shirt, Walkman included.
In the shopEddie Munson guitar solo tank top36,90 €See the product
The playlist, episode by episode
| Episode | Song | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California Dreamin' — The Mamas & the Papas | Eleven in Lenora Hills, the voice-over of her letter |
| 1 | Running Up That Hill — Kate Bush | Max in the high-school hallways, Walkman on her ears |
| 2 | Detroit Rock City — Kiss | Eddie and Chrissy in the trailer |
| 2 | Rock Me Amadeus — Falco | Rink-O-Mania, before the humiliation |
| 3 | Object of My Desire — Starpoint | Argyle and his pizza |
| 4 | Running Up That Hill — Kate Bush | Max at the cemetery, the scene |
| 4 | Dream a Little Dream of Me — Ella Fitzgerald | Victor Creel's song, 1959 |
| 5 | Pass the Dutchie — Musical Youth | The Surfer Boy van in the desert |
| 7 | Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) — Journey | The trailer and the passage between worlds |
| 9 | Master of Puppets — Metallica | Eddie's solo on the trailer roof |
| 9 | Running Up That Hill (orchestral version) | The finale, the confrontation in Max's mind |
| 9 | When It's Cold I'd Like to Die — Moby | The season's end credits |
All the songs predate March 1986, except Moby, reserved for the end credits, outside the fiction. Master of Puppets, released March 3, 1986, is the most recent used in the action: to within a few weeks.
Running Up That Hill: the song that saves Max
The song appears from the first episode, as a simple taste of Max, before becoming, in episode 4, the shield that pulls her from Vecna at the cemetery. Kate Bush cleared the use after reading the scene; the track became number one in the United Kingdom and in the American top 3, thirty-seven years after its release. Our detailed article tells the scene and the phenomenon.
The music ruleVictor Creel explains that Dream a Little Dream of Me, on the radio, kept him out of the monster's reach in 1959. Nancy and Robin deduce that a loved song opens a gap in the trance. That is the rule that saves Max, and that the party uses against Vecna.
Master of Puppets: Eddie's solo
In the finale, Eddie plays Master of Puppets on the roof of his trailer, in the Upside Down, to draw the demobats away from the Creel house. Joseph Quinn plays a large part of the track; a special mix was made, with parts recorded by Tye Trujillo, son of Metallica's bassist. The title entered the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in July 2022.
What Season 4 changes
After this season, the show's music became an event in itself: every title announced for season 5 was scrutinized, and the music supervisor, Nora Felder, became a figure known to fans. Season 5 picks up the two 1986 songs at chosen moments.
The Eddie figure, guitar in hand.
In the shopLego Max Mayfield mini figure and her red bike14,90 €See the product
How Kate Bush said yes
The Duffers wanted for Max a song of great emotional charge and left music supervisor Nora Felder to find it. She proposed “Running Up That Hill,” released in 1985; the creators liked both the music and the theme, a deal made with God to swap places. Winona Ryder said she had been slipping in Kate Bush allusions since the first season, arriving on set with the singer's T-shirts.
Kate Bush is known for being careful with licenses. Nora Felder contacted her and found she was a fan of the show; after reading the script pages where the song would be used, she gave her agreement. The effect went beyond anything the production imagined: more than 8 700% more streams, second most-played song on American playlists, fourth in the world, thirty-seven years after its release.
The albums, and the other songs it relaunched
The two volumes of Dixon and Stein's soundtrack, titled Stranger Things 4, came out digitally on July 1, 2022, the day of the second volume, on Lakeshore and Invada, then on CD and vinyl. The compilation of period songs was published by Legacy Recordings in two parts, on May 27 and July 1, at the pace of the volumes.
Kate Bush was not the only one to benefit from the season. Metallica's “Master of Puppets,” played by Eddie on the roof of his trailer in the Upside Down, reached number one on streaming platforms and entered the American and British charts for the first time since 1986. Dead or Alive's “You Spin Me Round,” Musical Youth's “Pass the Dutchie,” and Falco's “Rock Me Amadeus” saw their streams rise by about 1 700%.
The key songs, and where they fall
| Song | Artist, year | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| “Running Up That Hill” | Kate Bush, 1985 | Max escapes Vecna at the cemetery, episode 4, then several times through the finale |
| "Master of Puppets" | Metallica, 1986 | Eddie's solo on the trailer roof, to draw the demobats, episode 9 |
| "Dream a Little Dream of Me" | Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong | Victor Creel's song, which saves him in 1959 |
| "Pass the Dutchie" | Musical Youth, 1982 | Argyle and his Surfer Boy van |
| "You Spin Me Round" | Dead or Alive, 1984 | The Family Video store |
| "Rock Me Amadeus" | Falco, 1985 | The season brought this Austrian hit back |
The Walkman pin, for the emergency playlist.
In the shopMax's Walkman keychain12,90 €See the product
TakeawayOrchestral score by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, with a theme for Vecna. Running Up That Hill saves Max and goes back to No. 1. Master of Puppets enters the Hot 100 thanks to Eddie. Dream a Little Dream of Me sets the music rule.
Frequently asked questions
What is Max's song in season 4?
Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) by Kate Bush, 1985, which protects her from Vecna at the cemetery.
What song does Eddie play?
Metallica's Master of Puppets (1986), in the last episode, on the roof of his trailer.
What is Victor Creel's song?
Dream a Little Dream of Me, by Ella Fitzgerald, which was on the radio the night of the 1959 murders.
What song closes season 4?
When It's Cold I'd Like to Die, by Moby, over the end credits of episode 9.
Who chose "Running Up That Hill" for Max?
Music supervisor Nora Felder, at the request of the Duffers who wanted a very emotional song. Kate Bush, a fan of the show, gave her agreement after reading the script.
When did the season 4 original score come out?
The two Dixon and Stein volumes came out on July 1, 2022; the compilation of period songs, in two parts, on May 27 and July 1.