Few TV shows have achieved what the Stranger Things soundtrack has. From that synth-heavy opening theme, you’re transported to 1980s Hawkins, Indiana – and to a specific moment in American pop culture. The music isn’t just background noise. It’s a storytelling device that captures the wonder and adventure of classic Amblin Entertainment films.
The Duffer Brothers created something special: a sonic landscape that doesn’t just reference the ’80s but resurrects how that era felt. Like Spielberg’s E.T. or The Goonies. Stranger Things knows the right song can transform a good scene into something transcendent. The show’s proven it can turn decades-old tracks into modern anthem, most notably Kate Bush’s Season 4 resurgence and that unforgettable cast performance.
What makes this soundtrack fascinating is how it works on multiple levels. It establishes period authenticity through carefully selected hits. But it also functions as emotional architecture, using our collective cultural memory to create instant resonance. When a character cycles through suburban streets with the perfect track playing, we’re not just watching—we’re experiencing a carefully constructed emotional journey that taps into our nostalgia for when adventure felt possible and friendship could conquer darkness.
The Best of the Soundtrack: Building Hawkins Through Sound
Before we talk rankings, it’s worth appreciating how Stranger Things crafts atmosphere through two parallel soundtracks — the original score and the licensed songs.
The Original Score
Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein’s synth-heavy compositions are the show’s beating heart – the invisible current that gives Stranger Things its pulse. Drawing on the analog warmth of John Carpenter’s minimalist horror and the cinematic grandeur of Vangelis’ Blade Runner soundscapes, their score creates a bridge between the familiar and the uncanny. It’s nostalgic without being sentimental.
The Stranger Things main theme is an instant portal: two seconds of that arpeggiated synth line and you’re already in Hawkins, headlights slicing through the mist, radios flickering with whispers from the upside down. It’s not just an opening cue; it’s an invocation – the sound of a story beginning.
But the emotional soul of Dixon and Stein’s work lies in “Kids.” This shimmering, melodic track distils everything Stranger Things stands for… friendship, adventure, loss, and the fragile optimism that somehow survives them all. It’s the music of flashlights and walkie-talkies, of midnight bike rides under sodium lights. “Kids” captures the innocence that keeps the darkness at bay, reminding us that even in a world of monsters and portals, wonder still wins.
The Licensed Songs
If the score gives Stranger Things its pulse, the licensed songs give it personality. The show’s jukebox of pop, rock, and post-punk classics from the 1980s doesn’t just set the scene — it tells the story. These are songs chosen with intent, each one carrying emotional weight that goes way beyond nostalgia.
The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go” isn’t just a catchy throwback; it’s Will Byers’ lifeline, echoing through two realities as he tries to find his way home. Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” doesn’t just soundtrack Max’s escape – it is the escape. It’s rare for a show to treat music with that kind of sincerity, to understand that the right song at the right moment can hit harder than any special effect.
That’s the magic of Stranger Things: it treats nostalgia as a living language, not a gimmick. A Duran Duran deep cut or an Echo & the Bunnymen track doesn’t feel like a nod to the past – it feels essential to the moment. The songs aren’t there to remind us of the ’80s; they’re there to make us feel what it was like to believe in adventure again.
The 10 Best Songs from Stranger Things Soundtrack
Some soundtracks help define a show. Stranger Things built its identity around one. Across its seasons, it’s turned 1980s classics into emotional tentpoles, using music as a kind of time travel – one riff, one lyric, one memory at a time. Here are the ten best licensed tracks that shaped Hawkins, and why they still hit.
1. “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” – Kate Bush
There’s a reason this one took over the world in 2022. “Running Up That Hill” isn’t just used in Stranger Things – it’s reborn by it. Max’s desperate sprint from Vecna, her fear and defiance carried on Bush’s soaring vocals, remains one of the most electrifying sequences on television. The song’s emotional core, the yearning to literally swap places, to make someone understand – mirrors Max’s own inner war. Nearly forty years later, Bush’s lyrics felt written for her, proof that the right song can transcend time.
2. “Should I Stay or Should I Go” – The Clash
The first truly iconic Stranger Things music moment. For Will Byers, it’s not a song — it’s a signal. The Clash’s ragged punk anthem echoes through his radio like a lifeline between worlds. It carries the show’s central tension: the pull between safety and danger, childhood and adulthood, the known and the unknown. It’s the perfect choice — restless, slightly rebellious, and heartfelt. That chorus looping through the static became the emotional anchor of Season 1, and one of the best examples of music turning horror into something human.
3. “The NeverEnding Story” – Limahl
The moment Stranger Things stopped everyone in their tracks. In the middle of Season 3’s apocalyptic finale, Dustin and Suzie break into Limahl’s gloriously overblown 1984 theme – a full duet over the airwaves while chaos reigns around them. It’s ridiculous, adorable, and somehow profound. The sequence became an instant cultural meme because it captured the show’s entire spirit: sincerity triumphing over cynicism, nostalgia used not as parody but as pure joy.
4. “Heroes” – Peter Gabriel (David Bowie cover)
Few moments hit harder than this one. As Peter Gabriel’s haunting version of Bowie’s “Heroes” plays over the discovery of what everyone believes is Will’s body, the show drops its playful nostalgia and hits real grief. Bowie’s original was about defiance; Gabriel’s cover sounds like surrender – slowed, hollow, and full of heartbreak.
5. “Every Breath You Take” -The Police
A bittersweet masterstroke. The song underscores Mike and Eleven’s innocent slow dance at the Snow Ball, but the subtext drips with unease. As Sting sings “I’ll be watching you,” the Mind Flayer looms over Hawkins – love and threat in perfect harmony. It’s classic Stranger Things: taking something sweet and twisting it just enough to make your stomach drop.
6. “Time After Time” – Cyndi Lauper
Following that dance, Lauper’s dreamy ballad lands like a breath after the storm. It’s one of the rare moments when the kids get to just be kids. Her voice, equal parts fragile and hopeful, gives the finale emotional closure without false comfort. It’s not about forgetting what’s happened – it’s about carrying on anyway.
7. “Nocturnal Me” – Echo & The Bunnymen
Dark, swirling, and endlessly cool. The inclusion of this 1984 post-punk track in Season 2 showed how deep the Duffer Brothers were willing to dig. It’s the sound of quiet possession – of Will slipping further away as Hawkins grows stranger. Brooding guitars and cryptic lyrics lend the show’s horror a kind of romantic melancholy.
8. “White Rabbit” – Jefferson Airplane
Used when Benny discovers Eleven hiding in his diner, “White Rabbit” is a slyly perfect choice. Grace Slick’s trippy vocals swirl through the scene as Eleven encounters kindness – briefly – before the outside world turns hostile again. The Alice in Wonderland imagery mirrors Eleven’s own plunge into a strange new reality: a child pulled from one world into another, unsure who to trust.
9. “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” – Journey (Bryce Miller/Alloy Tracks Remix)
The slowed-down, cinematic remix that powered Season 4’s trailers redefined what a power ballad could be. Journey’s arena gloss becomes pure apocalypse – a song of heartbreak turned into a rallying cry. The new arrangement, all rumbling synths and echoing drums, captures the scale of the story’s final act: bigger, darker, and more operatic than ever.
10. “Master of Puppets” – Metallica
Eddie Munson’s last stand is more than a cool set piece – it is his final (and heroic) last hurrah. Perched on his trailer in the Upside Down, Eddie shreds Metallica’s 1986 thrash anthem with a grin that says everything we need to know about him. It’s loud, reckless, and somehow tender – a kid choosing to go out on his own terms. When the riffs start flying, it isn’t just music, it’s noise against the inevitable. As the sky splits and the bats close in, Eddie keeps playing, drowning out the fear with distortion.
