Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from Episode 9 of The Last of Us.Music has always been a key component ofThe Last of Us. Both games are heavily infused with good stuff, going way beyondGustavo Santaolalla’s awesome theme score, so it couldn’t be different with HBO’s series adaptation. During Season 1, the show has graced us with great songs in some of the most crucial moments, and they are never music just for the sake of music.
Every song is directly connected to the story being told in their own episode, and, therefore, they are each uniquely important. The series premiere, “When You Are Lost In The Darkness”, for example, has awhole segmentset in 2003, and music is a big part of how that ambiance is built - it was another time, so the songs have to reflect it. So let’s dive in all of those musical references, shall we?
Avril Lavigne — “Tomorrow”
After Sarah (Nico Parker) wakes Joel (Pedro Pascal) up in the series premiere, she cooks breakfast for them in the kitchen. The song playing in the background isAvril Lavigne’s “Tomorrow”, from her 2002 albumLet Go. Although not a hit like “Complicated” and “Sk8er Boi”, “Tomorrow” is perfectly on tune with the premise of the episode. The singer is insecure about her relationship, asking her partner to give her more time to be alone. She is not sure how she will feel the following day, and wants to believe her partner when they say it’s going to be okay. Sadly, we know Sarah won’t have a “tomorrow”, as she dies later in the episode. Her father repeatedly tells her it’s going to be okay,that they will survive, but she doesn’t. The whole world could have more time, too, but the cordyceps doesn’t wait.
Dido — “White Flag”
Once again in the breakfast scene in the premiere, but now playing whenTommy (Gabriel Luna) joins Joel and Sarah- whose track selection is killer, we must say.Dido’s “White Flag” was constantly played in the radio (remember radio?) in 2003, and there was no escape. The lyrics tell of a lover in regret of their actions, asking their partner for another chance. They understand the damage that was done but they know their feelings are true. This foreshadows how Joel will come to feel about his past. He is aware he wasn’t a good father for Sarah, nor a good brother for Tommy, although he loves both of them still, even after the world has ended. He’s at war with his past and doesn’t plan on letting it go - no white flag above his door.
Depeche Mode — “Never Let Me Down Again”
80s means trouble. It also means it’s not 2003 anymore, as the premiere episode moves to 2023. As Joel, Ellie and Tess (Anna Torv) venture out of Boston Quarantine Zone, the radio in their apartment comes alive with “Never Let Me Down Again”, byDepeche Mode, which, according to the smuggling code they’ve established will Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), means there’s trouble around.
Lead singerDave Gahanoriginally wrote the lyrics about his heroin addiction, depicting the ups and downs until sobering up. InThe Last of Us,Craig Mazinexplainsit’s about Ellie going on a journey with Joel, who’s a dangerous man. They don’t know it, but they will become each other’s best friends, and are surely going to let each other down along the way.
Fleetwood Mac — “I’m Coming Home To Stay”
On to “Long Long Time”, the emotional third episode. For a while, it takes us back to 2003, when we meet Bill. He’s hiding fromFEDRAagents in the bunker beneath his mother’s house and only comes out when he’s sure the goons have left. That’s when the party starts for him, to the tune of “I’m Coming Home To Stay”, byFleetwood Mac, back when it was a blues band led byPeter Green. The singer talks of going back home and never leaving again. Well, Bill is beginning hiscoming-outprocess and allowing himself to be fully visible after a whole life of hiding, and he doesn’t plan on leaving.
Cream — “White Room”
Still in Episode 3, but now in 2007, Bill is still living by himself. He’s a lonely person, he just doesn’t admit it to himself. Working in his bunker, he’s listening to “White Room”, byCream, which is ironic because he is in a pretty dark room, actually. The song talks about a person waiting for someone on a train that’s never going to arrive. A bunker is also a room “where the sun never shines”, where Bill watches “shadows run from themselves” (aka the Clickers) on his CCTV cameras. Also, “White Room” came out in the 1960s, which, according to the smuggling code, means “no new stuff”. Bill was stagnant, making no progress in his existence and being the same lonely person he always was. Until…
Linda Ronstadt — “Long, Long Time”
Until a song from 1970 came with new stuff to set Bill free. “Long, Long Time”, byLinda Ronstadt, is now a classic thanks toThe Last of Us. It represents the many barriers Frank overcomes to touch Bill’s heart after they meet in 2007. In arecent interview, series co-creatorCraig Mazinrevealed what drove him towards this song: it had to be incredibly sad, about yearning for love, while never getting any, and coming to terms with the fact that you will always be alone. That is the description of a lonely person, who, in this case, is Bill, yearning for love without the prospect of ever getting any, due to the constant repressing he had to put himself through as a closeted gay man. Fortunately, he eventually found love. Fortunately for us, we got this beautiful song back.
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Max Richter — “On The Nature Of Daylight”
Yes, you know this one.Max Richter’s “On The Nature of Daylight” was already a modern classic even before it was featured inThe Last of Us. You probably heard it before in movies likeShutter IslandandArrival, or the hit TV seriesThe Handmaid’s Tale. Here, it plays as Bill and Frank enjoy their last day together and get married, with its melodic overtones making the scene even sadder for us.
Erasure — “Chains of Love”
When Joel and Ellie enter the bunker at Bill and Frank’s compound, there’s still 1980s songs playing on their radio - at that moment, “Chains of Love”, byErasure, is on. Not much is going on then, and the singer speaks of not letting yourself be caught in “the chains of love”, meaning that true love is one that should set you free, and not make you feel chained. Kind of like whatFrank’s love did to Bill, right?
Hank Williams — “Alone and Forsaken”
Episode 4, “Please Hold To My Hand”, is where Joel and Ellie’s journey through what used to be the USA really begins, as they leave Bill and Frank’s compound behind and hit the road. After Ellie teases Joel with a male magazine, she finds a cassette tape with songs byHank Williams, which Joel claims to be from “before his time”. The song they play is “Alone and Forsaken”, which works as a perfect analogy to what happened to the country after the cordyceps outbreak, now a wasteland that’s “alone and forsaken by fate and by man”. The name of the episode also comes from a verse in this song, the pleading in the end: “Oh Lord, if you hear me, please, hold to my hand. Oh, please, understand.”
Lotte Kestner — “True Faith”
The end credits of Episode 4 actually bring an interesting Easter egg for the sequel to the original game,The Last of Us Part II. Originally released byNew Orderin 1987, “True Faith” is part of the sequel’s soundtrack as a theme for a grown-up Ellie, sung byLotte Kestnerin an acoustic cover. In the game, the song represents her growth after the whole journey she goes through, a painful process through which she finally becomes an adult. In the series adaptation, it brings the aggravation of being a 1980s song, and we know it to mean there’s trouble ahead for our heroes.
