The countdown to Stranger Things Season 4 has started, and we've just unearthed yet another detail from the trailer that is of major significance. A song by Journey appears in the Season 4 trailer of the Netflix original series, and it might hold a deeper meaning for the impending penultimate season.
Season 4 begins six months after Season 3 ended with the destruction of the Shadow Monster and Billy Hargrove's death during the Battle of the Starcourt. We also had to accept the apparent demise of Jim Hopper last season.
What is the significance of the Journey Song used in the Stranger Things Season 4 trailer?
The Journey song Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) is featured in the Season 4 trailer. A classic rock song from 1983, it thematically exemplifies the intensifying pain experienced by several characters in the upcoming season.
It also reminds viewers that Stranger Things is still a story about two literal worlds, the regular world and the Upside Down. The closer they come to each other, the more trouble engulfs the former. After all, as Dr. Sam Owens tells Eleven, a battle is developing.
To begin with, Jonathan and Nancy, Mike and Eleven, and Joyce and Hopper are separated by great distances despite being in love. Each of them is suffering from a different type of heartache. Joyce and Eleven assume Hopper is dead, which has crushed them. We also have a distraught Mike who longs to visit Eleven but will only be able to do so after six months. While Jonathan and Nancy became close around the conclusion of Season 3, they were torn apart by the Byers' move to California. In Hawkins, even Will is alienated from his closest friends.
There's also the Upside Down and its tendency to spawn portals in Hawkins. Since the series is so focused on the parallel realm, viewers are now seeing the barrier that has been holding it back begin to disintegrate.
Why is the background of the song relevant?
The background of the Journey song Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) can be connected to its role in the Stranger Things trailer. Journey wrote and played it on tour when a few of the band members were going through painful divorces and other difficult circumstances.
The song focuses on friendship, alongside themes of acceptance, composure, and acknowledgment of the past and future. We can conclude that the future is unclear, but the road has been worthwhile all along.
Stranger Things Season 4: Volume 1 will release exclusively on Netflix on May 27, 2022.