What songs do the Stranger Things characters use to resist Vecna?

The fourth season of Stranger Things introduced Vecna, the new face of terror in Hawkins, Indiana. Favorite animal: spider. Skin: patchy. Method of murder: hijacking your brain from the Upside Down, putting you in a trance and breaking every bone in your body.

He’s formidable, but our crew of plucky heroes do have a defense: the power of music. If Vecna has you in a trance, listening to your favorite song can help pull you out of it, as we saw when Vecna attacked Max only for her friends to pull her out his trance using the synth-tastic stylings of Kate Bush, specifically her 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God).”

The team bests Vecna at the end of season 4, but as Will Byers says, he’s definitely still out there, and when he recovers he’s going to come for all of them. It would behoove all of the characters to have their favorite songs at the ready should Vecna strike.

But what are their favorite songs? That’s what we’re here to figure out. Let’s start with the obvious:

Max: “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” by Kate Bush

This one’s easy. Max’s favorite song is “Running Up That Hill.” She’s said it multiple times and it saved her life when Vecna was trying to take it. The only reason it didn’t work twice is because Jason the varsity psychopath crushed Max’s walkman while he was fighting Lucas in the season 4 finale.

Season 4 leaves Max in a sorry state. Vecna hurts her, but Eleven is able to bring her back from the brink. She’s in a coma, but something tells us she’ll wake up come season 5. And when she wakes, she’ll want Kate Bush close at hand.

Lucas: “Cloudbusting” by Kate Bush

After “Running Up That Hill” saves Max from certain death, Lucas tells her that Kate Bush is now his favorite artist, too. Now, maybe he meant it metaphorically, but she has a lot of good songs worth listening to, so why shouldn’t he get into her music?

As for what song he might like, I’m gonna say he gets into “Cloudbusting,” which is off the same album as “Running Up That Hill”: Hounds of Love.

The song has a cool backstory: it’s based on a real-life relationship between an inventor and his son. The father built a machine he tried to use to make rain. He and his son would go “cloudbusting,” which ended up being some of the son’s fondest memories. Later, the father is imprisoned, and the young son feels helpless.

This could tie in to Lucas’ feelings of helplessness as he watched Max slip away from him. The song is melancholy, but it also has an optimism to it that fits Lucas’ personality. And it’s just nice to listen to, with a pulsing beat and some catchy string licks underpinning the lyrics.

Jim Hopper: “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” by Jim Croce

Here’s another easy one. In the second season of Stranger Things, Jim Hopper introduces Eleven to his favorite artist: Jim Croce, famous for his tough guy anthems like “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim.” Hopper likes the latter so much he even dances to it, becoming a meme in the process.

I’m sure the fact that the song is about a guy named “Jim” helps. In any case, everyone around Hopper will know exactly what to do if Vecna comes for the former sheriff.