Warning: this article contains massive spoilers for The Last of Us episode three Long Long Time.
Episode three of The Last of Us opted to (for the most part) veer away from Joel and Ellie’s narrative arc, instead dedicating most of its lengthy runtime to the story of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett.)
What ensued was an absolutely haunting love story between two people who, against overwhelmingly bleak odds, were able to find each other after the world had ended and bring out the best in each other. While Bill, the closed-off survivalist, was initially reluctant to let Frank into his life, this all changed when Frank sat down behind his piano.
With this being The Last of Us, of course, as you’d expect the story came to a tragic end.
This is an episode of television which is likely to stick in our minds for quite some time, but of course, one question may still linger: what exactly was the song that the pair played on the piano which ultimately led to their treasured time together?
What song was playing at the end of The Last of Us episode three?
This may or may not come as a surprise, but we actually gave the answer away right at the top of the article. The song which Bill and Frank play on the piano, and then Joel and Ellie play in the car while leaving Lincoln at the end of the episode, is called ‘Long Long Time’ by Linda Ronstadt. With the song being a recurring theme over the course of the episode, it’s only natural that the episode is also titled after the song. Much like Depeche Mode’s ‘Never Let Me Down Again’, showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have again underlined the importance of music in The Last of Us.
As we discover, Joel is a big fan of Linda Ronstadt’s work, but Ellie seemed quite indifferent. Ronstadt was born in 1945, was an absolute powerhouse of her age of music, netting a mind-boggling 11 Grammy Awards amongst a number of other accolades within the music industry, being most active in the 1970’s.
Some of Ronstadt’s other hits include ‘Don’t Know Much’, ‘Blue Bayou’, and ‘When Will I Be Loved’. Granted, Ronstadt’s discography is extensive and we’re likely doing her a disservice by not naming more of her most iconic works, but we’d be diving into a deep, deep rabbit hole if we’re going to be listing off every single great song she has written and performed.
