The central theme in Part 1’s Fourth Episode of the science fiction horror series ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4, which revolves around the power of celebrity Kate Bush’s song, is whether music has the ability to mold our lives, and can it save us.
Max (Sadie Sink), who is grieving the loss of her brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery) faces off against Hawkins’ latest adversary, Vecna, a menacing dream-demon-wizard type in a gruesome, nail-biting sequence. The wizard preys on teens’ guilt and humiliation, luring them into a nightmare and destroying them with their greatest fears and insecurities. His victims can come to their senses and defeat him, but only with the help of a truly killer melody.
Now comes Kate Bush, the British alt-pop diva whose 1980s classic “Running Up That Hill” has been getting Max through some dark times since her step-brother Billy died. Max is drawn to one of music’s most beloved heroines, a proud and defiant outsider whose influence is wide and deep. Bush is a rough, loopy chanteuse who has written about getting it on with a snowman and barked like a dog in a song.
Max, bereft and broken, straps on her headphones and listens to the angelic-sounding song over and over, hoping that by surrendering herself to this goddess’ mysterious world – a world of massive tribal beats and haunting synthesizers where love roars like thunder – she will find her way back home.
At the end of the fourth episode of the drama series’ Season 4, Max’s faithful pals arm her with headphones and put her Hounds of Love cassette into her Walkman in an attempt to wake her up from the demon’s powers. Her favorite music has provided her with comfort, but more importantly, it has provided her with strength. It is the only thing that can save her from Vecna, the horrible manifestation of her anguish and sorrow.
The crew, after Max’s escape, concludes that the only way to keep her safe from Vecna is to play her Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” on repeat. There is anticipation if this is a dangerous strategy, what if she grows tired of hearing the song, will Kate Bush lose her magical ability, and so on.
Bush has attained cult-icon status in the United States as a result of her high-concept videos and the bizarre subject matter of her music. Despite the fact that she has never won a Grammy, never charted in the top 40, and has been passed over three times by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she has influenced countless artists, including Prince, Björk, Florence Welch, St. Vincent, Tori Amos, Bat for Lashes, Joanna Newsom, Perfume Genius, Marina, and Lady Gaga.
In the meantime, she’s a national treasure in the United Kingdom, where she’s had 25 top 40 songs, including her debut, 1978’s “Wuthering Heights,” which made her the first female singer to reach No. 1 with a self-written song.
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