The Lyrics To Eddie's Song In Stranger Things Are Actually So Fitting
I'm really out here sobbing to Metallica.
Like previous seasons, Stranger Things Season 4, Vol. 1 had a central song from the 1980s that immediately became a cultural revival off the back of its appearance on the show. Like The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” and the theme from The Neverending Story, Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” was suddenly everywhere after it re-debuted on Stranger Things. But viewers got extra lucky in Season 4; diving the season into two parts meant two songs to get stuck in fans’ heads. The result — Volume 2’s use of Metallica’s “Master Of Puppets” to immortalize Eddie — was, in a word, masterful.
Warning: Spoilers for Stranger Things 4 follow. In the final episode of Stranger Things 4, the Hawkins crew created an ambitious plan to take out Vecna. With Erika as the means of communication, Max (with Lucas) became the bait to attract Vecna, which included an assist by the Cali squad and Eleven piggybacking. While Vecna was distracted, Nancy, Steve, and Robin headed into the Upside Down to find his body and destroy him. Meanwhile, Eddie and Dustin set up to attract the bloodthirsty demobats that guarded Vecna. The duo went full heavy metal, with Eddie playing his favorite song, the then-newly released title track from Metallica’s Master of Puppets album.
Master of Puppets was the album that broke Metallica through to the mainstream. However, their previous album, 1984’s Ride the Lightning, was a mainstay among the metal-listening crowd, which also had major overlap with D&D players; Dustin and Eddie would have been massive fans who ran out, bought, and learned to play the guitar riffs on this album upon its March 3, 1986, release.
But the song isn’t just appropriate for the time period; the lyrics are also perfect for Eddie, giving him the hardcore hero’s sendoff he deserved.
Here are the lyrics to “Master of Puppets.”
End of passion play, crumbling away
I’m your source of self-destruction
Veins that pump with fear, sucking darkest clear
Feeding on your death’s construction
Taste me, and you will see
More is all you need
Dedicated to how I’m killing you
Come crawling faster, obey your master
Your life burns faster, obey your master
Master!
Master of puppets, I’m pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you can’t see a thing
Just call my name, ’cause I’ll hear you scream
Master! Master!
Needlework the way, never you betray
Life of death becoming clearer
Pain monopoly, ritual misery
Chop your breakfast on a mirror
Taste me, and you will see
More is all you need
Dedicated to how I’m killing you
Come crawling faster, obey your master
Your life burns faster, obey your master
Master!
Master of puppets, I’m pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you can’t see a thing
Just call my name, ’cause I’ll hear you scream
Master! Master!
Where’s the dreams that I’ve been after?
Master! Master!
You promised only lies
Laughter! Laughter!
All I hear and see is laughter
Laughter! Laughter!
Laughing at my cries
Fix me
Hell is worth all that, natural habitat
Just a rhyme without a reason, neverending maze
Drift on numbered days, now your life is out of season
I will occupy, I will help you die
I will run through you, now I rule you too
Come crawling faster, obey your master
Your life burns faster, obey your master
Master
Master of Puppets, I’m pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you can’t see a thing
Just call my name, ’cause I’ll hear you scream
Master! Master!
As the members of Metallica themselves said in a statement on Instagram, the soundtrack of Stranger Things is always next level, and they were honored to be part of Eddie’s journey (as tragically as it ended).
