Even though The Last of Us is about a world after the end of the world, stripped down to the bone, that doesn’t mean it can’t show the nicer things in life too. Take music as an example.
Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann’s HBO adaptation of the Naughty Dog game uses music in a major way from the very first episode. As the credits roll, Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again” sets an ominous tone for things to come.
This musical loop is completed in episode 3, also called “Long Long Time”. to Linda Ronstadt’s 1970 Grammy-nominated ballad from her second album Silk Purse.
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How Does Linda Ronstadt’s ‘Long Long Time’ Feature in Episode 3?
Not long after the Cordyceps pandemic broke out, Bill (Nick Offerman), a survivor, finds Frank (Murray Bartlett), an uninfected stranger, trapped in one of the traps he set outside his fortified city.
After Bill reluctantly helped Frank out of the den and fed him a delicious meal of rabbit and Beaujolais at home, Frank went to Bill’s piano and began to sort through the pile of sheet music.
We’ve also talked about the later seasons of other shows, which you can check out if you’re interested:
He gets rid of a few composers he didn’t like and settles for The Best of Linda Ronstadt. “This is you,” says Frank as he leafs through the book and sits down at the keys. “Oh my God, that’s my favorite.”
He starts playing and singing along to “Long, Long Time”, but Bill quickly takes over to protest Frank’s cheerful performance. He sings the first lines of the song in a rough, anguished, but respectful voice.
“Love will last, take things in stride, Sounds like good advice, but there’s no one by my side. And time washes clean, the wounds of love unseen. That’s what someone told me, but I don’t know what it means.
In this way, “Long Long Time” begins their relationship and everything that comes after. Ronstadt’s song, which was written by Gary White, is about love that wasn’t reciprocated, but in The Last of Us, Bill stops before the second and third verses, which contain much more painful lyrics about “a love that never was.”
So by breaking the number off here, the show keeps the budding relationship on track and avoids the disaster Ronstadt sang about.
What does it mean when “Long Long Time” is played at the very end?
After a touching episode about Bill and Frank’s life together, from the first time they met until their deaths not long before Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) came along, it ended on a sad note that was just right .
Joel and Ellie leave in Bill’s truck after Joel reads the letter Bill left for him and they get more supplies. Ellie finds a tape in the glove box that says “Mix for Bill.” She puts it in the car’s player, even though Joel doesn’t want her to. But he changes his mind as soon as the music starts. “Oh no, wait,” he says. “No do not bother. Never mind, this is good, this is Linda Rondstadt.”
As they drive away from the house where Bill and Frank lived for decades, they play the original version of “Long Long Time,” a song that Bill and Frank used to play to each other on the piano.
It’s a good way to remember how much Joel and Bill have in common, which Bill points out in his letter. It’s also a touching reminder of how Bill and Frank met. The Last of Us is now available to stream on HBO Max, with new episodes airing every Sunday night on HBO.
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