Single Review: Queen - Who Wants To Live Forever (Stranger Things Remix)

This week marks the release of the fifth and final series of Netflix’s monumental hit series Stranger Things, with fans itching to discover the fate of the show’s iconic hometown Hawkins and its beloved crew of characters. As villain Vecna launches his final attack, rumours are rife about who will – and who will not – be left standing after the show reaches its conclusion on New Year’s Day. And what better way to build the tension than with a remix of Queen’s heart-wrenching power ballad ‘Who Wants To Live Forever’?

Queen’s iconic ‘Who Wants To Live Forever’ was re-orchestrated by composer Cédric Baravaglio to accompany the official trailer for the series (launched on 30th October), and was released as a single shortly afterwards, on 7th November. Originally written by Brian May for the 1986 film Highlander, the song is inspired by a scene in which protagonist Connor MacLeod experiences the loss of a loved one, bringing into question his own immortality and endless sense of loss. Nearly 40 years later, May’s sensitive and yearning lyricism is applied to a new context, with this arrangement of the song capturing the array of emotions displayed by Stranger Things’ dramatis personae: Eleven’s frustration, Hopper’s courage, Will’s dread, to name but a few.

Nearly 40 years later, May’s sensitive and yearning lyricism is applied to a new context

Baravaglio’s reimagination of the Queen song creates an eerie atmosphere. It perfectly translates the constant sense of addictive unease experienced when watching a Stranger Things episode – opening the track with a lonely violin swell, distantly accompanied by thumping percussion beats which rise and fall throughout the song. Freddie Mercury’s soul-stirring verse melody, paired with subtle string and brass accompaniment, creates an almost Bond theme-like atmosphere at the beginning of the track.

After the delivery of the lyric ‘Who dares to live forever?’, listeners are treated to the iconic, haunting, unmistakable combination of an 80s-style synthesiser and a major 7 arpeggio, which creates the immediately recognisable sound of Stranger Things – one which brings both a smile and goosebumps to fans worldwide upon its delivery at the start of each episode.

…the iconic, haunting, unmistakable combination of an 80s-style synthesiser and a major 7 arpeggio

The song reaches its vocal climax through Mercury’s gut-wrenching delivery of ‘and we can have forever, and we can love forever, who wants to live forever?’ accompanied by triumphant orchestral melodies, as the message ‘get ready for one last adventure’ appears on screen in the trailer – leaving fans desperately wondering who will be still loving and living by the close of the series.

Stranger Things has always found a way to perfectly support its on-screen drama with its song selections, and without perhaps possessing the sheer iconicity of ‘Running Up That Hill’ or ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’, ‘Who Wants To Live Forever’ certainly continues this legacy, encapsulating everything fans love about the Stranger Things universe: 80s nostalgia, other-worldly atmospheres of fear and perturbation, heroic triumphs, and heartbreaking falls.