Stranger Things 4 has given us the perfect new talking point for fans. I’m talking specifically about Vecna’s curse and the “cure” for escaping a brutal death. As we learned in the show, Max’s grief causes her to be cursed by Vecna, who is feeding on that grief and trauma to bring her to him. But as she’s in his grasp, her friends watching, desperate, below her, we see as they figure out exactly how to save her, and we learn that music can pull you out of the Upside Down and away from him.
For Max, it was Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” that brought her back to Hawkins, and it became the theme song of this season of Stranger Things. But it has also ushered in everyone asking each other a simple question: What would bring you back from Vecna’s curse? For actor Jamie Campbell Bower, he had a funny response. “If I’m being cheeky and fun, it would be Miley Cyrus’ ‘Party in the USA,’” he told ET Canada on the MTV Movie & TV Awards red carpet June 5.
While not everyone would pick “Party in the USA” as their choice, it has been a fun time online seeing what everyone would pick as their song to bring them back.
What song would save you?
As much as I want to say something like “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, I have made it clear to myself and those who have asked that the song that would save me would probably be “Vienna” by Billy Joel. But everyone is incredibly different, and the conversations online have been a fun insight into everyone’s personalities.
There are, of course, already Twitter accounts dedicated to different songs playing as Sadie Sink’s Max floats above Lucas, Dustin, and Steve.
Some people are taking the question very seriously and giving truthful and honest answers like saying only the tunes of Max Rebo and his sweet jizz music from Star Wars could save them.
But there are also new questions that have taken over, like moving on from songs and asking what kind of quotes would save you from the curse.
And then there are those who are very honest about the question and recognize that trying to figure out what their favorite song is would end up just getting them killed by Vecna because they couldn’t decide.
The power of music
What I love so much about this aspect of the season is that it does show how powerful music can be. I have always been someone who turns to music as a way of coping. (I made a playlist titled “dad,” when my father was dying, that was filled with music he gave me to help me work through the pain.) So, seeing that it held such a power for Max and helped pull her from Vecna? It just weirdly meant a lot to me to see Stranger Things using music in this way.
It’s not the first time, either. Jonathan used music to talk to Will before, and the show has shown what music can do for people, and seeing everyone talk about their choice of song is just a really wonderful way for fans to bond.
(featured image: Netflix)
