15 Stranger Things Needle Drops That Gave Us Chills, Ranked

Stranger Things is not shy about throwing a monster at you, but the show’s real cheat code is how it weaponizes music. The Duffers and music supervisor Nora Felder keep picking songs that don’t just decorate scenes, they drive them. Across four seasons and more than 180 tracks, these are the needle-drops (and a few score cues) that still live rent-free in my head.

1. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr. (Season 2)
   Four kids in Halloween costumes belting the Ghostbusters theme on the way to school while actual monsters lurk in town? That on-the-nose irony is exactly why it works. It’s pure, toothy-grin nostalgia and a perfect breather in a season that does not exactly respect your blood pressure.

2. The First I Love You - Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein (Season 1)
   The synth wizards behind the show’s score nail the Mike/Eleven tenderness with a cue that feels innocent and huge at the same time. It’s the sound of first love in a world that keeps trying to ruin it.

3. When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die - Moby (Season 4)
   A 1995 track in an ’80s time capsule? Bold choice. It absolutely lands. The drifting vocals and that chilly, suspended feeling underscore one of Season 4’s most devastating sequences. Fun detail: the show used the same song back in Season 1 when Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour) pulled Will (Noah Schnapp) from the Upside Down. When a track is this perfect, strict timeline rules lose the argument.

4. Runaway - Bon Jovi (Season 2)
   Eleven steps out of Hopper’s cabin to chase her past, and the radio gives her the perfect anthem. The lyric "She’s a little runaway" hits exactly as she’s torn between safety and answers. Big hair, bigger feelings.

5. Pass the Dutchie - Musical Youth (Season 4)
   Enter Argyle (Eduardo Franco), Jonathan’s (Charlie Heaton) new California pal who’s chill to the point of oblivious. This breezy British reggae-pop track announces him before he says a word. While Hawkins spirals, Argyle vibes. The tonal contrast is the joke, and it’s a good one.

6. Soldiers - Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein (Season 2)
   Season 2, Episode 6. This score cue is an alarm bell in synth form: relentless, controlled, and very "nothing good happens after this." It’s so effective you wish they used it even more.

7. Kids - Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein (Multiple seasons)
   The unofficial theme for growing up too fast. It’s nostalgic and a little sad, like a summer night you know won’t last, and it always shows up when the kids are about to do something brave and probably dangerous.

8. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper (Season 2)
   A Hopper/Eleven montage cleaning the cabin becomes a father-daughter love letter. Hopper, who lost a child, gets a second chance; Eleven gets safety for once. Lauper’s promise to be there "time after time" is the whole relationship in three minutes.

9. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) - Journey (Bryce Miller/Alloy Tracks remix) (Season 4)
   The remix that turned the Season 4 rollout into a full-body adrenaline event. It honored the original and still felt like a brand-new weapon. Steve Perry co-signed it, which is about as official as it gets. Used in the trailers and the season itself, it bridged hype and story like a champ.

10. The NeverEnding Story - Limahl (Season 3)
    Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo) singing for Planck’s constant while everyone else is running for their lives is peak Stranger Things: adorable, ridiculous, and plot-critical. Murray (Brett Gelman) and Hopper are stuck in a Russian bunker, Nancy’s (Natalia Dyer) crew is being chased, and these two are doing a duet. It killed, then it memed, then it lived in your brain for a week.

11. Every Breath You Take - The Police (Season 2)
    The Snow Ball. Eleven shows up, Mike’s jaw hits the gym floor, and for one brief, shining dance these kids are just kids. It’s sweet with a melancholy edge, which is also the vibe of this entire show.

12. Heroes - Peter Gabriel (covering David Bowie) (Seasons 1 & 3)
    The Duffers’ emotional wrecking ball. In Season 1, it plays over the false body discovery while Joyce makes contact through the Christmas lights. In Season 3, it returns for Hopper’s "death" and the Byers family leaving town. Gabriel’s version strips the swagger and replaces it with something fragile and transcendent.

13. Master of Puppets - Metallica (Season 4)
    Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) plugging in and shredding in the Upside Down is top-tier television. Quinn trained for it, the demobats got baited, and Metallica hit the charts again because half the planet suddenly wanted to learn that riff. Heroism, but make it metal.

14. Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash (Season 1)
    The original lifeline. Jonathan bonding with Will over this song turns into an across-dimensions thread that helps keep Will alive. The lyric question mirrors his situation exactly, and every time those chords start, you know we’re back in Byers territory. It set the template for how the show uses music as story, not wallpaper.

15. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) - Kate Bush (Season 4)
    No suspense here: it’s the moment. The song saves Max (Sadie Sink) on screen and then detonates in the real world, shooting to No. 1 in the UK for the first time, 37 years after release, with a reported 8,700% global streaming spike. It’s also thematically perfect for Max’s guilt over Billy. Kate Bush publicly loved the way the show used it, and honestly, same.

What Season 5 is hinting with its big song

The newest Season 5 trailer leans on Queen’s "Who Wants to Live Forever," written by Brian May for 1986’s Highlander. Lines like "there’s no time for us" and "who dares to love forever when love must die" scream final battle energy. The track originally peaked at No. 24 in the UK; given this show’s track record, do not be shocked if it climbs again. Also: that choice feels like a warning. Everyone making it out? Unlikely.

The show’s music effect, in one quote

"has a way of connecting each of the songs to its multigenerational audience around the world in very unique ways."
– music supervisor Nora Felder to Billboard

And she’s not wrong. Stranger Things keeps resurrecting classics without making them feel like museum pieces. The Clash re-entered charts after Season 1. Metallica’s "Master of Puppets" blasted back to life, hitting No. 22 on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs. Limahl’s "The NeverEnding Story" went viral all over again. Journey’s "Separate Ways" got a modern glow-up with that remix and slid back into rotation. And Kate Bush… well, Kate Bush basically ran the summer. All told, the show has woven more than 180 songs through four seasons, and almost none of them are there just to wink at the ’80s.

Alright, your turn

Argue with me in the comments. Did I place your favorite too low? Are we all sleeping on a deep cut from Season 1? Tell me which track still hits and why.

Want to rewatch the chaos with fresh ears? All four seasons of Stranger Things are streaming on Netflix. Season 5 drops November 26, 2025 with Volume 1 (4 episodes), Volume 2 lands on Christmas Day (3 episodes), and the series finale arrives on New Year’s Eve.