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Stranger Things tunes, at this point, might as well be its own subgenre of music. The series has made such pivotal usage of popular songs from the eras that the show takes place in that, some 30 years later, brand new lovers of Kate Bush and Metallica are emerging from the show's fanbase. However, the series still has to occasionally say 'no' to using some numbers, and in one particular case, they had to reject using a song that would've sparked interest from a fanbase that's even bigger than Metallica's. 

At one point in the series history, the creators revealed, Stranger Things writers wanted to use a song J.R.R. Tolkien wrote as part of his Lord of the Rings. 

The story comes from an interview that the Duffer Brothers did with Entertainment Weekly all the way back in 2019, right after Stranger Things's third season had wrapped. In the discussion, Matt Duffer touched on that scene between Dustin and walkie-talkie girlfriend Suzie, wherein the pair sing the theme from The NeverEnding Story.

"We went through all the various songs they could sing," says Matt. "At one point they were going to sing the Ent song from Lord of the Rings." 

In case you're not as steeped in Tolkien as certain members of the Popverse staff (cough Ashley cough), the song to which Matt Duffer is referring is likely the Song of the Ent and Entwife, which is sung by Treebeard to Merry and Pippin in the text of The Two Towers. What's interesting to note here is that there is no official score behind the lyrics Tolkien wrote, so it's possible that the Stranger Things team was planning on writing their own. 

Alas, we'll never know if that was the case, as a much deeper problem than "lack of music" became apparent.

"Then we were like," Matt explains, "'Oh, well, Amazon is making Lord of the Rings, that’s probably not going to go over well with Netflix.'"

That's right, you can blame IP disputes for getting in the way of Dustin and Suzie doing and Ent/Ent Wife duet. And with just one season left for the Hawkins gang, as well as Prime Video's Rings of Power season 3 on deck, we highly doubt the Duffer Brothers will ever revisit this idea.

Stranger Things season 5 is expected on Netflix late 2025.

As we all collectively wait for Stranger Things season 5, here's the keys to getting ready:

• How to watch Stranger Things in chronological or release order
• Getting to know the Stranger Things season 5 cast
• There needs to be more death in Stranger Things, says co-star Gaten Matarazzo
• The Stranger Things time jump between season 4 and 5 has been confirmed by Netflix - and it raises some serious questions
• "They land the plane," David Harbour describes the Stranger Things finale, which he calls its "best episode"