The music in “The Last of Us” is rare.
After a fungus outbreak destroyed modern civilization in 2003, recording new music certainly isn’t high on the list of priorities, or possibilities.
In the present day, music appears as a means of communication between smugglers: the songs of the ’60s mean nothing; ’70s songs mean new stock; 80s songs mean trouble. It’s a code devised by existentialists Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) to share with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Tess (Anna Torv).
But Bill and Frank have their own special song. For more information, read:
How do Bill and Frank meet?
After the 2003 outbreak, Bill lived alone, barricading himself in his house and putting up netting around the perimeter.
One day Frank falls into Bill’s trap. Bill rescues Frank and after alleviating his initial skepticism, invites him in for a hot bath and a meal.
How do Bill and Frank bond?
After dinner, Frank says he’ll be on his way. But before he does, he sees a piano in Bill’s living room and asks Bill if he can play it.
After sifting through some sheet music, which includes the operas “Tales of Hoffmann” and “The Best of Linda Ronstadt,” Frank flips through the latter and plays his “favorite,” Ronstadt’s hit “Long Long Time.” finds the
Frank does it, which triggers an emotional response in Bill, who tells him “that’s not the song”. Bill then performs a more melancholy version, and the two men connect over love and loss. They hug and later make love.
Who is Linda Ronstadt?
Ronstadt is an American folk rock singer from the early 70s.
“Long Long Time” Was One of Her Hit Singles, and Yes, That “The Best of Linda Ronstadt” Songbook Really Exists and Can Be bought online, But if the 2005 publication date is accurate, it would have actually been published after the outbreak (and that would be an anachronism).
The song peaked at No. 25 on the Hot 100, and earned Ronstadt a Grammy nomination in 1971.
The opening song, sung by both Frank and Bill, runs:
love will last, take things easy
Sounds good advice but none in my favor
And time washes away love’s unseen wounds
someone told me that but i don’t know what it means
‘Cause I’ve done everything I know to try to make you mine
and i think i’m gonna love you for a long time
Bill has been single for years, so literally, he has no one by his side.
Frank asks, “Who’s that girl you’re singing about?” To which Bill replies, “There’s no girl.”
“I know,” Frank says, “understanding that being gay was not something Bill could express, that his inability to show or explore those feelings was an “unseen wound.” This is later confirmed when Bill states that he has never been intimate with a man.
Ironically, Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffmann”, another piano piece, is also about lost love.
What Happens to Bill and Frank in “The Last of Us”?
In the year 2023, Frank is in the grip of an incurable disease. He wishes to live one last day, and asks Bill to give him a lethal dose of the drug so that he can die in his sleep / in Bill’s arms.
Bill sadly agrees but tells Frank that he too will take the pills as he has nothing to live for.
A few days later, Joel and Ellie show up at their house. Joel finds his bedroom door locked and Ellie finds a note explaining Bill and Frank’s decision – and a set of keys.
As Joel and Ellie drive off, they find a cassette tape of Ronstadt’s “Long Long Time” in the car. It’s especially meaningful: If Bill and Frank ever leave the house, they’ll always have the song without the piano. Or, if they separate (either scouting or escaping), this memory is always with one of them.
The final shot is from inside Bill and Frank’s bedroom, showing “Long Long Time” once again, a scene they may have shared together one last time before they died.
Watch the “Long Long Time” Music Video
Here Ronstadt is performing an abridged version of “Long Long Time”. you can read the whole song Here,
