Stranger Things’ Music Is Its Secret Weapon 

I've been watching a lot of Stranger Things lately (for obvious reasons), but on my rewatch this time, it's really struck me just how good the music in this show is. This is not a new opinion - Stranger Things' synth, 80s-inspired sounds have been clipped, looped, and shared on all sorts of viral videos. But something Stranger Things has going for it that not all film or TV projects do is that it manages to nail both its original score and the use of licensed music.

Stranger Things takes us back to small-town USA in the 1980s. As I am not American, nor a child of the 80s, nor from a small town, it seems like it would be hard for me to find something to latch onto in Stranger Things, but if there's one thing the series is consistently good at, it's capturing nostalgia, and that feeling is capable of connecting with any age group.

To capture nostalgia a lot of things have to work in tandem. The characters have to be well written with period-appropriate dialogue, the performances have to be up to scratch, and the costumes and set design need to be top-tier. However, if there's one thing that can pull its weight more than any other storytelling element in helping to establish tone, it's music - and Stranger Things' music does that impeccably.

The Original Score

The original music in Stranger Things is composed by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein. They are two of the members of the electronic band Survivor, and their experience in synth-focused sounds has paid dividends for Stranger Things. Dixon and Stein have cited musicians like Tangerine Dream and John Carpenter as inspirations for the Stranger Things score, which provides the show with a perfect blend of upbeat electronic sounds and horror melodies.

Let's start by examining the opening theme song of Stranger Things. It's a looming, pulse-emitting, synthetic score that supports the movement of sinister red letters as they float across the screen. Stranger Things' opening credits are deceptively simple, but they don't require any elaborate visuals because Dixon and Stein's score is enough to elicit that feeling of excitement and anticipation.

Another standout is the track ‘Kids’. This is the tune you'll often hear trending on reels and TikToks, and it's synonymous with the Stranger Things vibe. If there's any track that can capture the feeling of Stranger Things, it's this one. The bouncy electronic tune is brimming with optimism and youthfulness. It's the feeling of having a free afternoon with your friends after school, where any activity could become an adventure. The melodic keyboard scales toward the end of the track add an extra layer, infusing the steady hometown feeling with a sense of sci-fi wonder and possibility.

On the other end of the scale is a track like ‘The Upside Down’, which introduces an off-kilter, chilling theme that underpins the equally ghostly alternate dimension where the Demagorgons and Vecna reside. The music has such an eerie feeling with its use of sounds that seem distinctly out of tune and shrill sliding noises that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up (just like Will Byers intended).

Rewatching Season 4 most recently, I was struck by ‘Kids’ partner song, ‘Teens’, which essentially has the same tune but embellished by different sounds and instruments. As the title suggests, the music is deeper and more mature, with more hollow echoing notes that come with the wisening of age, rather than the springy tempo of the original.

Watching Stranger Things' musical score continue to grow and change over the past decade has been, I think, just as much of a pleasure as watching the child actors on this show transition into adults.

The Licensed Tracks

Working in tandem with Dixon and Stein's original score is a selection of licensed period tracks in Stranger Things that only further double down on the nostalgia.

Starting in Season 1 with the use of the Clash's “Should I Stay or Should I Go” (which went through a painful rights process to licence), the hit songs in Stranger Things all gain a resurgence in popularity as they resonate with older fans and are introduced to a new generation through the sheer popularity of the Netflix series.

Something I've always respected about Stranger Things is that it won't use licensed music just to fill the background - these songs usually have a reason for being there. In the case of “Should I Stay or Should I Go”, this was the song Will Byers was singing to himself while trapped in the Upside Down. Music was a valid connection to Will's character and thus became an integral part of the story being told.

Similarly, with “The NeverEnding Story”, the song from the 1984 fantasy film had intrinsic value to Dustin and his long-distance girlfriend, Suzie. Love or hate the NeverEnding Story rendition in Season 3, but the song just fits. It's a callback to a popular film from the era, and it made for a sweet moment of connection between two young characters.

If you want to talk about a resurgence in popularity thanks to Stranger Things, then look no further than Kate Bush's “Running Up That Hill”. Everyone already knew that this song was a masterpiece, so to have it paired with one of the most climactic, epic sequences in Stranger Things only served to make it even more popular. But “Running Up That Hill” also had a personal connection to Max; it was her favourite song, and the thing that had been comforting her in the wake of her depression over her brother's death. Then, after being captured by Vecna, it becomes a Hail Mary, and the one thing that shields Max from Vecna's influence. After its use in Stranger Things, “Running Up That Hill” was more popular in 2022 than it was when it was first released, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the UK charts.

Among the original score and the licensed music, there is occasionally a synthesis in Stranger Things' music. I'm thinking mostly about the remix of Journey's "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" that featured in Episode 8 of Season 4, during a dramatic montage as the characters prepared to enact their battle plan against Vecna. Alone, “Separate Ways” would have been a good addition, but one far too upbeat for the sombre mood of the montage. But with it remixed to match the eerie synths of Stranger Things' score and building into an almost choir-like anthem, it becomes something epic, and a spiritual moment of musical synergy.

I didn't even get to talking about Eddie playing Metallica in the Upside Down, or the pitch-perfect uses of 80s icons like Talking Heads or Madonna, but I think my point has been made. Stranger Things knows how to use music and make it engaging to the audience, regardless of whether you grew up in the 80s.