i know we've already established this but like i just adore the fact that the melody of both 'the first lie' and 'the first i love you' is featured in 'being different' but it's more deep, impactful and emotional.

it's will telling mike his first lie whilst confessing his love for him vicariously through el's name LIKE STOP THATS SOME EMOTIONAL DAMAGE ARE U KIDDING ME

¿ƃuıʞɐɯ ɯ'ı ʇɐɥʇ ןɐǝp ǝɥʇ ʇnoqɐ ɹɐǝɥ oʇ ʇuɐʍ noʎ op ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʜᴜʀᴛ ᴍᴇ, ʙᴜᴛ ꜱᴇᴇ ʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴇᴇᴘ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴜʟʟᴇᴛ ʟɪᴇꜱ. ᴜɴᴀᴡᴀʀᴇ ɪ'ᴍ ᴛᴇᴀʀɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀꜱᴜɴᴅᴇʀ. ᴏᴏʜ, ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴜɴᴅᴇʀ ɪɴ ᴏᴜʀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛꜱ. 

unambiguous true love is literally a direct quote from eddie, in the scene where he’s talking to steve about nancy jumping in after him

i hope Nocturnal Me by Echo & the Bunnymen is in the s4 soundtrack

it would make a good background to when Vecna is possessing/torturing/murdering someone if that makes sense

idk just read the lyrics;

also the lyrics aren't rly meant to be taken that seriously, it's just a really spooky and ominous sounding song

In an ice-capped fire Of burning wood In our world of wire Ignite our dreams Of starry skies And you and me As realised Our bigger themes

Oh, take me internally Forever yours Nocturnal me Take me internally Forever yours Nocturnal me

Do or die What's done is done True beauty lies On the blue horizon Who or why What's one is one In pure disguise Of vulgar sons

Oh, take me internally Forever yours Nocturnal me Take me internally Forever yours Nocturnal me

Whatever burns Burns eternally So take me in Turns internally When I'm on fire My body will be Forever yours Nocturnal me

In an ice-capped fire Of burning wood In our world of wire Ignite our dreams Of starry skies And you and me As realised Our bigger themes

Oh, take me internally Forever yours Nocturnal me Take me internally Forever yours Nocturnal me

Music Parallel: ‘Destroying the Castle’ x ‘In the Closet (at Rink O Mania)’

We know that the s3e3 rain fight and s4e2 rink fight parallel each other, and it turns out that the music does too! 

This is a mashup of the two songs found primarily in these scenes (overlaid audios).

Since these songs are both in 4/4, their rhythms match up perfectly once tempo-adjusted. Coincidently, so do their harmonies (take a listen, it’s pretty cool)

I first noticed this because ‘Destroying the Castle’ is in G minor, while ‘In the closet (at Rink O Mania)’ is in Bb major, which are relative keys and ideal for mashups.

Coincidence? Maybe...?

The original pieces: Destroying the Castle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZfA1agB8I  In the closet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C3ouXEP1bI 

Music theory speculation under the cut:

Destroying the Castle is set firmly in the key of G minor, with its main motif being the notes Bb-A-G, which are characteristic of the g minor scale. That’s what creates sad and depressing mood. The corresponding chords are G minor, F major, Eb major (yes, Eb major. it surprised me when i found out).

In the Closet seems to be in Bb major? Not entirely sure. The main motifs are Bb-D-C-A and Bb-A-C (depending on which section of the song you’re listening to). Both are pretty similar. Corresponding chords are G minor, Bb major, F major, Eb major in some order. 

There are a lot of the same notes and chords in both pieces, which isn’t obvious when listened to separately. It could be a coincidence, since many songs on the Stranger Things soundtrack are in keys with flats (around the F major - Bb major - Eb major area).

The structure of both songs is similar as well. Both start with a quiet ambient section of chords, and transition to a louder second half. I only used the second half of both songs. Luckily for the mashup, both ‘second halves’ are around the same length.

I’m not very well-versed in music theory or film analysis, so feel free to add your thoughts about this!

I'm curious

smthn smthn “california dreaming” is the song we see associated with will in s4, smthn smthn “dream a little dream of me” is the song associated with Henry in s4, smthn smthn those two songs are tied together by being the only two songs on the soundtrack that have been sung by the mamas and the papas, but neither version is the mamas and the papas version smthn smthn this is a stretch but will-Henry parallels

i know it’s been a while since my analysis but it’s still absolutely fucking wild to me that the song “being different” is a combination of the first lie and the first i love you, and LITERALLY plays during will’s first lie and first i love you to mike.

like what the fuck. combining songs from seasons 2 and 3?? that played in situations that work for the context of byler?? that display a deep level of care and attention to detail over the seasons for a pairing that may well be not only the endgame of the show but also the pairing that perfectly displays the overall message of the show? that our differences are what make us unique, and it is love in all its forms that make our differences so important? that amongst all the chaos and hatred in the world, two childhood friends falling in love is not the (forgive me) strangest thing that could ever happen? it’s just so…. wow.

with what the duffers have been saying about season 4, that it’s them “peeling back the layers” and “showing their hand” to the audience, all of this just makes so much sense. it’s going to be really beautiful to watch this story come to fruition. i’m so excited :’)

i’ve been digging around in the s4 soundtrack to see if there was anything notable, and i found byler proof that was highly intriguing.

so this is the title of one of the songs. it plays during episode two, when el is hiding in the closet from angela. but after rewatching the clip, i noticed that the song started way before we actually see that scene with el.

it commenced playing in this scene.

which, i mean, that’s proof by itself. though some may argue that any references to being closeted is merely referring to will. however, there was a bit of further evidence that hints otherwise.

the song first began, in particular, when the camera was focused on mike. not will, not even the both of them. just mike wheeler. and we know how much the creators and directors of this show love to focus on camera angles and such to foreshadow things. it’s peculiar that they’d add this song in now, during this scene, when focused on this character, who is supposed to be in a requited straight relationship…

interesting.

and when mike tells will, ‘you’re the heart’ then what 

Looking at the soundtrack of Stranger Things, the song “The First I love You” has been discussed a lot, I know. Mainly with the “love” being in lowercase, as the “love” is not real, or at least not romantic. It’s played during when El tells mike she loves him and they have that brutal kiss at the end of season 3, right before the Byers’s are going to move. (Mikes eyes are open, he looks absolutely horrified during and afterwards. it’s intentional, I’m sure.) It’s also played during Robin’s coming out to Steve, meaning that their love is not romantic. It’s Steve’s first “I love you” as it was El’s to Mike’s, but the other side cannot reciprocate due to them being queer. I’m sure this has been said before, and in much better ways, but I thought I’d just type something out.

NOW for how this connects to s4!

I’ve been kind of pissed at s4 since it’s the big director-heavy bash that goes too long that I’ve been mad about ever since watching It Ch2 (which I love a lot nonetheless, despite its way too heavy use of jump scares, etc. that’s got another time, I mainly like it so much because it’s adapted from my favorite book and I love the cast but I think the miniseries did the adult losers much better on a simple scale) and Wonder Woman 1984.

But despite how I feel about s4 not connecting to my dad-and-I’s big-scale analysis of s1-3 that we have developed over many car rides through New England, I made a connection that happens to explain all of this to me and prove why the “love” being lowercase is significant.

While Robin is trying to tell Nancy that her and Steve are not romantically involved, she says “Platonic with a capital P” showing that the word with the capital is the true and significant one. If the love is not capitalized between El and Mike, it shows that it’s not romantic.

I hope that came out clearly haha. Thank you for reading this if you did read this far.

Noah Schnapp as Will Byers STRANGER THINGS (2016) + Piledriver Waltz by Alex Turner

anyways is it now confirmed that he’s playing master of puppets…..

ooooo stranger things fandom you guys wanna listen to dear evan hansen sooooo bad ooooooo do it for gaten matarazzo do it for dustin you know you want to ooooooooo 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

GUYS I PRE-SAVED THE STRANGER THINGS SEASON 4 SOUNDTRACK AND NOW THESE SONGS ARE IN MY APPLE MUSIC LIBRARY

WAS THE SOUNDTRACK SPOILED FOR ME IM-

new favorite song: