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pt 1: stranger in the alps:

smoke signals: mikesong

the narrator of this song is receiving messages (“smoke signals”) from someone trying to get their attention. interpret this as a song from mike’s pov about not understanding will's feelings for him and his tells - could include the “anonymous” painting confession, references to will in the upside down (“one of your eyes is always half shut/something happened when you were a kid”), and how mike isn’t getting the memo (“you are anonymous/i am a concrete wall”)

motion sickness: N/A or kinda willsong

this song is about being in an abusive relationship with an older man. because of that i don't think it's relevant to byler but if i had to pick i would put will because out of context the lyric "i have emotional motion sickness" is very will i think.

funeral: mikesong or willsong

funeral is (on the surface) about grief and on a more broad level about feeling guilty about your own depression on the basis that it makes you self-absorbed/other people have it worse. for mike i think this could apply postcanon where mike is "stuck" and struggling but knows objectively had it pretty well-off compared to the way the events of canon affected el, will, max, etc. in terms of will i think this sentiment could apply to his feelings about el's death or general guilt from him over being "the one that survived."

demi moore: willsong

demi moore is about getting high and sending nude pictures, or, more poignantly about oscillating between feeling sexy and desirable and feeling alone and sad. i don't have super specific reasoning for why this feels more will to me - will obviously has a complicated relationship with his own sexuality (queerness and CSA) and i think i could see that extending to his desirability. the narrator in the song is using sex to combat loneliness and depression in a way i could see will doing postcanon, as someone who has a whole slew of issues he can't really talk about. i also love stoner will ofc.

scott street: willsong

phoebe says scott street is about "being really lonely" and "a lot of different things, but really it’s all there. it’s just a diary” but my perspective on this song has always been about reflecting on an old relationship or maybe running into an old flame again. for will, consider: "walking scott street, feeling like a stranger" -> maybe will back in hawkins as adult, a stranger to somewhere he used to call home. "do you feel ashamed/when you hear my name?" -> do you (mike) feel bad for how you treated me? do you regret what happened between us? "anyway, don't be a stranger" -> despite everything that's happened between us i still want you in my life. i can never un-know you. you've hurt me but i still care about you.

killer: ???

this song is about fear of abandonment and wanting another person to be completely under your control so that they don't leave you. idk how this could apply to byler but i'm sure it could somehow

georgia: willsong

to me this song is from will's pov about mike. georgia is a love song where the "love" is kind of an idealized fantasy where the narrator thinks they need the person in the song to feel good about themselves while simultaneously trying to fix them. will thought he "needed" mike to reciprocate to accept his sexuality even though mike wasn't necessarily treating him ideally. i also think there's something to be said about the tie of person to place in this song. some people interpret that the boy in the song is from georgia, and therefore the "son" of the place. i really think after will moves to new york he would heavily associate mike with hawkins or even indiana.

chelsea: N/A

great song but about the murder of nancy spungen, girlfriend of sid vicious of the sex pistols, in the chelsea hotel. idk how to extrapolate anything to do with byler from this one

would you rather: willsong

god i love this song. this is about siblings who make a pact to escape their abusive household and also the narrators brother was accused of arson when their childhood home burned down. this song is so willel it's insane. "i'm a can on a string, you're on the end" -> complicated relationship but always connected. to me this song is will and el's shared but differing experiences with the supernatural that left them traumatized and vulnerable (in will's case) and hardened (in el's case). they're the only 2 people who can ever really understand it all.

you missed my heart: willsong

okay this one is a stretch and a hear me out. this song is a cover but it's about killing your ex's new boyfriend because you still want to be with her and then going to prison and then getting shot and dying. the thing about this song is that "you missed my heart" is repeated because it's something mark kozelek (original songwriter) was told by a repairman after stabbing him in a dream. so it's a play on words where you literally missed my heart, the organ, but also (emphasized by phoebe's melancholic voice) nobody can take away the love of the victims in the song. will byers survived unimaginable horrors but stayed fundamentally good and loving despite it all. next

it'll all work out: mikesong

this too is a cover (song originally by tom petty) but idc it's so byler so i'm still talking about it. this song is about a relationship where the narrator regrets how they weren't there for the girl they love. they promise themselves everything will work out despite their regrets in the relationship - ostensibly apart, where the girl in the song is happy with someone else and the narrator still thinks about her. mike regretting how he wasn't there for will and didn't understand his feelings before it was too late, and how he just wants will to be happy whether it be with him or not.

pt 2: punisher:

garden song: willsong

this song is a recollection of reoccurring nightmares phoebe had while on tour. it's about what you believe coming true - good and bad. i can't find this quoted by phoebe herself but there's a lot of things in this song that to me indicate a theme of growing up as well. "i grew up here 'til it all went up in flames/except the notches in the door frame" -> will's complicated relationship with hawkins as a Place. he'll always have roots there no matter how much it's associated with the things that hurt him. "i don't know when you got taller/see our reflection in the water" -> will and mike growing up parallel to each other. there's a theme of peace and beauty being cultivated from violence in this song which is very will b to me.

kyoto: willsong

complex relationship with a shitty deadbeat dad. lonnie byers. i'm not elaborating on this it feels self explanatory to me.

punisher: ???

okay well this song ofc is about elliott smith. phoebe idolizes him like a character, feels like his knock-off, thinks he was better than she is as a person and an artist, and doesn't think they would have any good conversation if they met. no tether real but "what if I told you/i feel like I know you?/but we never met" feels very willel.

halloween: mikesong

this song is about a relationship that's gone south, and trying to pretend nothing is wrong just for one night. this feels like mike wheeler's genre of avoidance to me

chinese satellite: mikesong

this song is about wishing you believed in god/aliens/anything supernatural or "bigger." to me this song is s1 mike hoping will's still out there somewhere, alive, after seeing his body.

moon song: willsong

one of my favorite songs of all time. this is about being so in love that you want someone to treat you badly because then at least they're treating you at all. to me this is postcanon byler situationship where will is kind of letting himself be strung along because mike can't admit to himself and to will what he actually wants. "you couldn't have, you couldn't have/stuck your tongue down the throat of somebody/who loves you more" -> will feels like he's being used as a physical body to mess around with, and that mike doesn't know the gravity of the emotions behind what they're doing. "so i will wait for the next time you want me/like a dog with a bird at your door" -> will letting himself be desperate for the crumbs he's being given. all very ttmd ttms

savior complex: mikesong

this song is about dating someone who hates themselves and not having the energy to engage with it all. basically a tumultuous relationship where the narrator thinks they can "fix" the damaged person they're with. this is kind of honorary because well mike literally being a bad liar with a savior complex is basically canon. but i actually don't think the specifics of this song fit byler at all.

ICU: willsong or mikesong

ICU is a song about a painful breakup. however specifically the lines "if you're a work of art/i'm standing too close/i can see the brush strokes" are very will about mike - sometimes you can know someone too well and "cause i don't know what i want/until i fuck it up" are some of the most mike wheeler lyrics of all time.

graceland too: mikesong

phoebe says graceland too is about caring about someone who hates themselves. it chronicles a friend or partner of the narrator leaving the psych ward/rehab where the narrator is willing to do anything for them. to me this is mike's pov of will where he seems him as kind of volatile and sad and traumatized but all he wants is for him to feel loved.

i know the end: mikesong and willsong

Pomni experiences her first 'death' in one of Caine's adventures. It messes her up a bit.

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