#music coding

And there Will be more. But these are the ones I have SO FAR.

hes so special to me :3

i havent shut up about this on other platforms since july but it’s finally time to make a formal tumblr post about it. this is my favorite thing ever and my favorite piece of byler proof and im SO excited to make one big post about it 

the songs that i’m gonna be talking about are:

The First Lie

On The Bus

The First I love You

Being Different

the first lie has only ever played once, and it was during jonathan and nancy’s first kiss in 2x6. they had been denying their feelings for each other left and right for a YEAR. the kiss is the first time they’ve ever directly acknowledged and admitted their feelings and been completely honest and open about it. the song is basically the same chords played over and over again. go and listen to it now and get that tune in your head because it is extremely important. 

the first i love you has played three times. first during robin’s coming out scene in 3x7, then in in mike and el’s “i love you too” scene in 3x8, then in joyce and hopper’s first kiss in 4x9. the first i love you has a lot of build up in the beginning and then bursts into beautiful synths, it’s a great song. the s3 scenes it’s used in makes a lot of sense. steve is slowly trying to tell robin he likes her and finally does, and then he’s slowly realizing what robin is trying to say: she’s a lesbian, and el is slowly trying to tell mike she loves him. OR....mike is slowly realizing HE is gay. we all know what happened in that scene.....mike was not feeling it and literally pretended not to know what she was talking about. and his face....

...yeah.

also in the first i love you, the chords from the first lie are used. they’re similar songs on purpose. a pattern is forming here. these chords are used every time there is some kind of romantic confession going on. nancy and jonathan finally admitted their feelings and made out, steve confessed his crush to robin, robin confessed her sexuality to steve, el confessed to mike that she loves him and kissed him three times, and mike stood there like he just realized he likes boys. similarly to jancy, joyce and hopper finally admit their feelings to one another by making out. fun times!

i know what you’re thinking. “doesn’t the first i love you playing during a jopper scene mean the coming out scene parallel doesn’t mean anything??” no my sweet angels it does not, and here’s why

like i said, the first i love you has a lot of build up. specifically, theres an inital buildup and release, bu then there’s a dip in the middle and then more buildup...more buildup...and THEN it’s the part that plays during the jopper scene. that intro that’s used in the steve & robin scene and the mike & el scene isn’t used in the jopper scene. which to me, separates this scene from the others. and jfc WATCH the jopper scene and compare it to the two other scenes. there is a STARK difference and sends a completely different message. and regardless, romance is involved in every pair. steve likes robin but it’s one sided. mike and el are dating. joyce and hopper are in love. 

yeahhh the jopper scene doesn’t really discount anything lmfao

moving on!

on the bus plays during 2 scenes. first, during lucas and max’s heart-to-heart in 2x6 on top of the bus. then during......wait for it......mike and will’s heart-to-heart in 4x4. once again, the chords from the first lie are used. but this time, it’s incomplete. it’s not the same kind of song as the first lie. one is synths and one is piano. 

in both scenes, there is a confession going on. max admits to lucas why she’s kind of mean sometimes and also opens up about her family & past. then lucas tells her she’s not like billy at all and says “you’re cool and different, you’re super smart, and you’re like totally tubular” (god they are so fucking CUTE). then they say, “i like talking with you, mad max.” “i like talking with you, stalker.” confessions all around. 

mike admits to will that it’s been weird since he left and hawkins isn’t the same without him, and that he feels like he lost will. before this, mike’s emotionally vulnerable side had been completely absent. and during this scene he is finally honest. then he and will agree that they want to be best friends again. 

i also want to point out that the timing in this scene is definitely intentional. remember, the first lie’s chords is the motif for truth + love/romance.

on the bus starts out with a different tune, then after a few seconds the motif kicks in. in the byler scene, the motif plays right when mike says “they’re great, it’s just...it’s hawkins it’s not the same without you.” then it continues as he says “and i feel like maybe i was worrying too much about el...i don’t know maybe i feel like i lost you or something. does that make sense?” 

the motif for truth + love plays....when mike admits that his relationship with will is different than his relationship with his other friends and even el.....i feel faint

then it goes back to the other chords for a second, then the motif is back. it starts when mike says “friends. best friends.” i dont think i even have to say anything 

go watch this to see what i mean. listen closely

on the bus is special because like i said, it’s very different from the other 2 songs we’ve discussed. the motif is incomplete, but it’s there. when you hear that motif, you’re meant to understand that there are romantic undertones. something romantic is going on here. before the lumax scene, you could probably guess that they were gonna eventually be a couple, but the bus scene is when it’s pretty much confirmed. there were romantic undertones. and feel free to disagree but the byler scene was SO fucking romantic coded. romantic undertones all over the place. ALSO, in both of these scenes, the pair in question are interrupted and have their gazes torn from each other. lucas and max by the screech of a demodog, mike and will by the screech of the tires outside. haha. hahaha. haahahahahahHAHAHAHHAAHAHHA. ITS COOL! ITS TOTALLY COOL! WE’RE FINE!

the last song, being different, is played once. it plays when will gives mike the painting and confesses his feelings by using el’s name. it’s a pretty long song, and the motif doesn’t kick in until almost the end. but when it does, it’s on mike’s face. go watch this to see what i mean

will is confessing his love for mike, but he’s also lying. he’s implying these are el’s feelings when they’re not by using her name. like on the bus, being different is very different from the first lie & the first i love you. the motif, once again, isn’t complete and sounds almost distorted. will is being truthful, but he’s also not. he’s saying these aren’t his feelings, but regardless they still are and he’s saying them out loud TO mike. 

! romantic ! undertones ! 

! truth ! and ! love ! 

also, since this motif is representative of truth + love, don’t you think it would play during mike’s big monologue confessing his love for eleven? i think so too!

but it didn’t. the motif is nowhere in you’re the heart. 

lets quickly go over all of the pairs talked about in this post:

nancy + jonathan (in love, a couple)

lucas + max (in love)

mike + el (a couple)

robin + steve (one sided crush)

joyce + hopper (in love, a couple)

will + mike (one canonically in love with the other/undecided)

the motif has appeared 6 times in total, 2 times per season (2, 3, 4), and with those pairs ONLY.