Stranger Things Season 5 Soundtrack: A Guide to Every Needle Drop

The 1980s-set Netflix series Stranger Things has always had a real knack for choosing songs of the era and exploding their popularity. The most notable example of this was Season 4’s epic use of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” but every season up through Season 5 has featured some unexpected yet welcome needle drops, including The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” and Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.”

So, with the premiere of the fifth and final season, let’s break down the most significant songs chosen by music supervisor Nora Felder and the production team, episode by episode — all the music you might hear that’s not written by composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein. The mix so far includes a few familiar tracks, as well as some new artists making their Stranger Things debut. Will this season lead to a renaissance for artists like Diana Ross or Tiffany? One can only hope.

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 8, “The Rightside Up.”]

---

Episode 1: “The Crawl”

• The Clash — “Should I Stay or Should I Go”
• Michael Jackson — “Rockin’ Robin”
• The Psychedelic Furs — “Pretty in Pink”
• Diana Ross — “Upside Down” (reprised for end credits)
• Kate Bush — “Running Up That Hill”

Season 5 begins with the reveal that Robin (Maya Hawke) has gotten a new job as Hawkins’ local radio D.J., and as the writer of this guide, I was honestly worried for a minute that this would mean a lot of extra work for me. So far, though, Robin’s too busy trying to fight the Upside Down to spend much time in the booth, with most of her big needle drop moments happening in this episode.

First, though, “Should I Stay or Should I Go” (the song Will used to communicate with the Rightside Up during Season 1) makes a return appearance during the opening flashback to November 12th, 1983. Then, in the “present day” — November 3rd, 1987 — we hear Michael Jackson’s 1972 cover of “Rockin’ Robin” as Robin delivers some valuable exposition, followed by “Pretty in Pink,” which is a not-so-subtle message for Robin’s special lady.

The most important needle drop of the episode, though, is Diana Ross’s 1980 hit “Upside Down.” Using that song now is reminiscent of how Breaking Bad waited until its own final season to finally get the rights to Tommy James and the Shondells’ “Crystal Blue Persuasion” — you have to respect the restraint. We get a nice long play of it here, too, as Robin uses it to deliver a secret message to the rest of the Party. And it comes in for the end credits as well, because why not?

Finally, we hear a few notes of “Running Up That Hill” in this episode, as Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) sits by the hospital bed of Max (Sadie Sink). It’s a safe guess that won’t be the last we hear of it, though.

Episode 2: “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler”

• ABBA — “Fernando”
• Kate Bush — “Running Up That Hill”
• The Chordettes — “Mr. Sandman” (end credits)

As promised, “Running Up That Hill” is featured again at Max’s bedside, this time for slightly longer as Lucas keeps vigil. But the real star of this episode, soundtrack-wise, is ABBA’s “Fernando,” which Mrs. Wheeler (Cara Buono) is blasting as a Demogorgon begins its attack on the Wheeler house, and keeps playing throughout the attack (warping in haunting ways at key points throughout the scene).

It’s otherwise score throughout the episode, except for the end credits song choice of “Mr. Sandman,” a 1954 tune meant to invoke the era in which young Henry Creel (the future Vecna) grew up. It adds to the eerie ending of the episode, in which Vecna welcomes young Holly (Nell Fisher) into a recreation of his family home.

Episode 3: “The Turnbow Trap”

• Freddy Martin — “To Each His Own”
• Tiffany — “I Think We’re Alone Now” (reprised for end credits)
• Yello — “Oh Yeah”

Episode 3 keeps the old-timey vibes going with the big band sounds of Freddy Martin accompanying Holly’s awkward breakfast with “Henry.” But when he departs, he leaves behind a gift for Holly: A portable stereo and a cassette tape of ’80s queen Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” — the ’80s hit was tailor-made for a sequence in which a young girl parties by herself in a strange house.

Also, if it’s the 1980s, and folks are talking about car-related tomfoolery, then of course a music supervisor has no choice but to invoke the iconic Yello track “Oh Yeah.” Certainly if it was good enough for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, it’s good enough to accompany Dustin drilling into a pristine BMW for the purposes of the mission.

Episode 4: “Sorcerer”

• The Sherman Brothers — “Higitus Figitus” (from The Sword and the Stone)
• Elmer Bernstein — “Main Title from The Great Escape“
• The Chords — “Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)”
• Kate Bush — “Running Up That Hill”

There’s a lot of big action in this episode, but in between trapping a Demogorgon and some mass carnage on the military base, there are a few surprising song choices. First, there’s a quick clip from 1963’s The Sword and the Stone, featuring the packing-up song “Higitus Figitus,” playing on TV just as Debbie Miller, one of Holly’s classmates, gets swept up by the Army. It is, admittedly, kind of a random selection (especially considering where the song lands on Consequence’s ranking of every Disney song ever).

In terms of a film more relevant to the action, when Robin dives deep into explaining the plot of 1963’s The Great Escape to the rest of the team, the soundtrack invokes legendary composer Elmer Bernstein’s legendary theme. It’s actually rare for the show to use a piece of music like this non-diegetically, but it definitely helps sell the moment in this case.

Later, one of those classic “you know this takes place in the past because this song is playing” tracks comes onto the soundtrack: Doo-wop group The Chords recorded “Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)” in 1954 — another repeated year! — and it immediately sets the tone during Max’s flashback to her trip inside Henry’s memories.

As Max’s flashbacks continue, so returns Kate Bush, the song once again being manipulated on the soundtrack to match the spookiness of the situation. But otherwise, the rest of the episode is largely devoted to original score — which is epic enough to meet the moment.

Episode 5: “Shock Jock”

• Raymond Scott — “Think of a Carpet”
• Floyd Cramer — “Heart and Soul”

The two major needle drops of the episode are both old timey tunes heard in Vecna’s home, and if you’ve never heard of Raymond Scott before it’s worth a deep dive into his life, he’s a fascinating artist whose music was used in over a hundred Looney Tunes cartoons over the years, amongst other accomplishments. “Heart and Soul,” of course, is instantly memorable as one of the first duets most young music students learn — making it all the more apt that we hear someone playing it on the piano before the soundtrack segues into

Additionally, the movie being watched by Holly and her friend in the basement is Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors — Patricia Arquette’s first film, and a very apt movie to invoke, considering the nature of Vecna’s attacks (and his complexion).

Episode 6: “Escape from Camazotz”

• Kate Bush — “Running Up that Hill”

Stranger Things really put the show’s composers to work for this 75 minute episode, with the only major needle drop featured being the repetition of “Running Up that Hill.” Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein definitely make the most of it though, once again riffing beautifully off the song for Max’s big inspirational speech at the episode’s stirring conclusion.

Episode 7: “The Bridge”

• Kate Bush — “Running Up that Hill”
• Moby — “When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die” (feat. Mimi Goese)
• Butthole Surfers — “Human Cannonball”

The exchange between Max and Lucas as she wakes up from her coma is very funny, especially coming in the penultimate episode of the series: When Lucas asks her if she’s sick of “Running Up that Hill” yet, she shakes her head, but when she turns the question around on him, he nods. (And fair enough!)

That may be a series wrap on Kate Bush actually. Instead, during this emotional character reunion, the soundtrack pulls another song from its own past, albeit one that is also from this show’s future: The 1995 Moby track “When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die,” featuring Mimi Goese. It was previously featured in the show’s first and fourth seasons.

The last big musical moment of the episode comes as Robin and Mike debate the relative merits of Butthole Surfers as a soundtrack for saving the world, Mike making his case with a song off the 1987 album Locust Abortion Technician. (Incredible title for an album.) Robin, meanwhile, makes her case for The Replacements. She’ll ultimately lose that fight — for the better.

Episode 8: “The Rightside Up”

• The Chords — “Sh-Boom”
• Prince and the Revolution — “When Doves Cry”
• Prince and the Revolution — “Purple Rain”
• Fleetwood Mac — “Landslide”
• Pixies — “Here Comes Your Man”
• Iron Maiden — “The Trooper”
• Cowboy Junkies — “Sweet Jane”
• (In the Style of) Etta James — “At Last”
• David Bowie — “Heroes”

Prior to the series finale, Season 5 felt like it’d shown a lot of restraint in terms of big splashy song choices. Turns out, that was because it was saving its biggest needle drops for the last hour of Stranger Things ever (at least until the first spinoff premieres).

At least Robin got her wish from Episode 7: No offense meant to Butthole Surfers, but any rational person on the planet (including the members of Butthole Surfers, I’d guess) would agree that Prince is a major upgrade. “When Doves Cry” begins the countdown for the bomb going off before final detonation gets triggered by “Purple Rain,” the latter being an unconventional but largely bittersweet choice for Eleven and Mike’s final conversation.

Eighteen months later, Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” does its duty as one of the premiere backdrops for nostalgic musings, though in the case of Robin’s monologue at the radio station it’s also a handy bit of catch-up on what’s been going on between the previous battle and graduation day. Robin also takes the opportunity to introduce the citizens of Hawkins to Pixies’ “Here Comes Your Man” cover.

Before things wrap up, Dustin gets to pay tribute to the lost Eddie by blasting Iron Maiden at the end of his valedictorian speech at graduation, and a person who is not Etta James does a beautiful job of singing Etta James’ “At Last” to celebrate Hopper and Joyce getting engaged. It all wraps up with David Bowie’s “Heroes,” an on-the-nose but still emotional choice for the final credits.

Stranger Things Season 5 is streaming now on Netflix.