Discover Max’s music listening on repeat and what is its meaning!
Stranger Things is available on Netflix! If you want to know what music Max listens to, keep reading! Stranger Things helped a song by singer Kate Bush, 37, featured in the new season, hit the iTunes charts. To find out the hidden trailer for Part 2, read this.
Stranger Things which follows the adventures of a group of children in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana as they battle horrific creatures from a parallel dimension known as the Upside Down, is a retro series set in the 1980s. The series used many songs popular of the era to help set the scene. We list all of Season 4 here.
The song is used in an important scene involving the character of Max, in the first episode of season 4, and becomes a prominent recurring musical motif throughout the remaining seven episodes. So what does the music that Max listens to repeatedly in season 4 of Stranger Things mean?
Also Read: Who plays Eden Bingham Stranger Things 4?
What “Running Up That Hill” Song Really Means?
The music Max listens to is “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush. The music makes sense as Max’s favorite song. It’s a single from Kate Bush’s 1985 album Hounds of Love, and it’s understandable that people are still listening to it a few months later, in March 1986. For an explanation of the Season 4 Part 1 ending, read this.
In 2018, rapper Outkast Big Boi talked about “Running Up That Hill” in a video, discussing how the song makes listeners feel like they can imagine their own world that they can run to, which fits perfectly max. Also, the Kate Bush’s voice in the song is very angelic, which probably attracts max. as a source of comfort.
What does the lyrics of Max’s favorite song mean?
At first, the music seems to talk about the relationship of max. with Billy, who was redeemed in Stranger Things after risking his life to save his and Eleven’s stepsister. The chorus sings: “What if he could / make a pact with God / and ask him to change our places.” It shows the guilt Max feels for Billy’s death and how responsible he feels for his death.
“Running Up That Hill” is a song about the power of connection and how it can lead to greater understanding in relationships. However, after Max is possessed by Vecna while on his way to Billy’s grave, “Running Up That Hill” takes on a different meaning. After speaking with Victor Creel, Nancy and Robin realize that Vecna’s spell can be broken with the power of music.
Victor was the only member of his family to be saved from death because he heard Ella Fitzgerald’s “angelic” voice singing “Dream A Little Dream Of Me” on the radio. Steve, Dustin and Lucas learn from Nancy and Robin how to break Vecna’s control and discover that “Running Up That Hill” is Max’s favorite song by playing it for her on her Walkman.
While he was trapped in the Vecna altar in the Upside Down, max. she hears the music and is able to “run up that hill” to his friends, opening a portal that allows her to escape Vecna and save herself from death. “Running Up That Hill” is more than just a song loved by Max because it has a very special and moving meaning in Stranger Things.
