Stranger Things, the secret of the ending is in Prince’s album
They did it again. THE Duffer Brothersthe creators of “Stranger Things“, they turned once again to music to accompany – and give meaning – to a key scene of the Netflix phenomenon series. It had happened, in previous seasons, with “Should I stay or should I go” by the Clash, with “Heroes” by David Bowie (included in the first season in Peter Gabriel’s version) and obviously with that “Running up that hill” by Kate Bush finished in 2022 at the top of the world charts thanks to “Stranger Things”. In the final episode of the fifth and final season – waiting for possible sequels and spin-offs, which will surely be there: shall we bet? – of the series the music is not just an emotional accompaniment: it becomes an integral part of the narrative. And it does it in the most powerful way possible, thanks to two songs by Prince used with an intelligence and coherence that are rare even for a series that has always paid close attention to the soundtrack.
Details that are anything but random
The final episode comes to life when “When doves cry” accompanies one of the most spectacular sequences of the entire saga: the start of the countdown of the bomb in the Upside Down, which tears the wall of the wormhole and starts the process of suppression of the interdimensional portal. But the real stroke of genius lies in the fact that the music it is not extradiegetic: it is not only the spectator who feels it, that is, but also the characters. The bomb, in fact, is activated via a turntable which reproduces the B-side of the album “Purple rain” of prince. A detail that is anything but random: the B side opens with “When doves cry” and closes with the title track, “Purple rain”. It is the record itself that marks the time of destruction and rebirth, transforming a technical gesture into a moment full of symbolism.
Why the Duffer Brothers chose Prince
They were the same Matt and Ross Duffer to explain to Netflix how they arrived at the choice of Prince and “Purple Rain”: «Once we had the idea that a record would trigger the bomb, we knew we needed an epic explosion. There have been so many ideas thrown around, but there’s nothing more epic than Prince.” The creators were looking for an album that began with an energetic, almost festive song, and ended with a song full of meaning and a strong emotional charge: “Purple rain” turned out to be perfect. Small problem: it was necessary convince Prince’s heirswho notoriously do not easily grant licenses to use the Minneapolis elf’s songs in films and TV series. And here it came into play Nora Felderthe very skilled music supervisor of “Stranger Things”, who already in 2022 became the protagonist of the undertaking of tracking down Kate Bush, who has long disappeared from the scene, to convince her. The Duffers admitted to never having argued so much about choosing a song as for that sequence in the finale of “Stranger Things”: «When we explained that we wanted to include both Prince songs in the finale, we were told that it was a very remote possibility. We crossed our fingers. Thank God they accepted.”
A bittersweet ending
They’ll take care of setting off the detonator remotely Hopper (David Harbour) and Murray (Brett Gelman), starting to play the b-side of “Purple Rain”. To the tune of “When doves cry” the cast escapes from the interdimensional bridge to the light and apparently carefree notes of the first song on side b of Prince’s album: everyone is convinced they have put an end to the nightmare. “Well, the countdown begins,” Murray says. It’s a moment of relief, almost euphoria. But when the crew finally emerges from the collapsing Upside Down and returns to the real world, outside the portal they find the military waiting for them: they are looking for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), to use her as a laboratory test subject, taking her blood to create clones endowed, just like her, with psychokinetic powers. The atmosphere changes. The tone becomes decidedly less festive. “Purple rain” starts, the final track of the b-side of the album of the same name: it is the signal that the bomb is about to explode, causing the Sottosopra to implode. Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Will (Noah Schnapp) and the other protagonists of the cast are immobilized by the military. But Eleven isn’t there. The camera turns and Eleven appears in the gap that divides the real world from the Upside Down: he chose to sacrifice himself (but is it really like this? The ending is open and leaves viewers the freedom to imagine the character’s end) to prevent the American government from continuing to carry out experiments on children to use as weapons against the Russians, in the midst of the Cold War. AND the climactic scene of the finale, the one that breaks the illusion of a happy ending and emotionally charges the viewer like few others. And he does it to the tune of “Purple rain”.
The lyrics of “Purple rain” and the meaning of the ending
Eleven sacrifices herself to allow the entire group to move forward: her disappearance – regardless of whether she is dead or not – marks the end of a cycle. If she had crossed the threshold that divided the Upside Down from the real world and allowed herself to be captured by the military, the American government would have continued to conduct those dangerous experiments that had led to the tragic consequences depicted in the series. With his passing, the adolescence of the protagonists of the series ends. And it is no coincidence that the series ends just as it began, in 2016: with Mike, Will, Dustin and Lucas – plus Max, who wasn’t there in the first season – in the basement of the former’s house, sitting around a table playing Dungeons & Dragons. At the end of the campaign, the kids put the game back on the shelves and leave: Mike closes the cellar door, and in doing so he closes the door to his, their adolescence. The lyrics of “Purple rain” are linked precisely to Eleven’s choice and love with Mike. «I never meant to cause you any sorrow / I never meant to cause you any pain / I only wanted to one time to see you laughing / I only wanted to see you / Laughing in the purple rain», «I never meant to cause you pain / I never meant to cause you pain / I just wanted to see you laugh once / I just wanted to see you laugh in the purple rain» sang the elf from Minneapolis. And again: «I know times are changing / tt’s time we all reach out», “I know times are changing / It’s time we all searched for something new”. The emotional blow is very strong.
Prince’s exploit
The choice of the Duffer brothers proved once again to be a winning one. And it has already produced concrete effects. “When doves cry” and “Purple Rain” have been viral for two days and are among the most searched songs on Shazam, the app that allows you to find song titles. The former is currently the most searched song in the US and UK and the third most searched worldwide. A clear sign of how “Stranger Things” did not limit itself to celebrating the past until the end, but still managed to reactivate itmaking it alive, necessary and surprisingly current.
