Nostalgic Music is Making a Comeback, Thanks to Our Fave Movies, TV Shows And Memes

Spotify has spilled stats on how hits like Running Up That Hill and Barbie Girl have had a resurgence in popularity.

Last year you could literally not escape hearing Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)”.

The 1985 banger returned to the Billboard Global 200 chart in 2022, thanks to season four of a little Netflix show, Stranger Things.

Between May and June 2022, “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” experienced a listening increase of 522% on Spotify.

Stranger Things isn’t the only show that’s having a major influence on our playlists.

A bunch of movies, TV shows, and even trending memes and TikTok sounds are bringing back the popularity of iconic artists and tunes that the older members of your fam loved ‘back in the day’.

Keep reading and check out these Spotify stats to see just how much of an impact pop culture has had on our listening. 👀

“Barbie Girl” - Aqua.

There’s no surprise that with rage that was Barbie the Movie in July, the OG “Barbie Girl” tune has come back in full force.

Yes – before there was “Barbie Girl” with Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, there was the dance-pop band, Aqua.

The 1997 hit gained a listening increase of 97% between June and July 2023.

It’s fair to say, we’re not surprised by this one.

“Master of Puppets” – Metallica.

Let’s jump back into Stranger Things for a hot minute, because we can’t not talk about Eddie’s musical performance in the season four finale.

It's been over a year now but *spoiler alert* if you're still not caught up with Stranger Things.

As you can imagine, many fans dealt with the loss of their fave Hellfire Club member by blasting Metallica’s 1986 song, “Master of Puppets”.

Between June and July 2022, the listens on “Master of Puppets” increased by a huge 570%.

In the words of Eddie Munson, “this is music!”

Goo Goo Muck – The Cramps.

You can’t talk about trending music from TV without mentioning Wednesday and that iconic dance scene.

The 1981 punk song “Goo Goo Muck” by The Cramps experienced an increase in listens by massive 557% between November and October last year.

It’s almost Halloween season again, so we recommend adding this one to your playlist if you’ll be channelling Wednesday Addams vibes.

“Something in the Way” – Nirvana.

Nirvana is nostalgic, and we dare you to tell any 90s kid you know.

Their song “Something in the Way” was a part of the marketing for 2022’s The Batman and featured in the film – the perfect tune to accompany it’s dark and gritty vibes.

The song from Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind gained an incredible listening increase of 2235% between February and March last year.

The bar has been officially set for the next DC films to top this stat.

“Make Your Own Kind of Music” – Cass Elliott.

Of course, we had to ask for a stat on one of our fave Tiktok trends of this year – the iconic Pedro Pascal and Nicholas Cage car ride from The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

“Make Your Own Kind of Music” by Cass Elliott wasn’t in the film, but it added as a sound used to create as part of one of this year’s viral memes.

Between February and March this year,  the 1969 hit gained an increase of 247%.

Ahh, the power of music.

Header image: Netflix, Warner Bros. Pictures.