The story behind the song "Long, Long Time" that broke our hearts.
While Linda Ronstadt's "Long, Long Time" isn't likely to be as good as Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" on Stranger Things or Wednesday's The Cramps' "Goo Goo Muck" TikTok is trending, but HBO's The Last of Us still knows how important it is to pick the right songs.
Ronstadt's 1970 ballad, set in the heartrending third installment of the post-apocalyptic survival series, is not only thematically important, but the lyrics are also crucial to the story. lyrical. When Bill (Nick Offerman) lets another man, Frank (Murray Bartlett), into his home after three years of seclusion, he plays "Once upon a Time, Once Upon a Time" on the piano somberly. "After revealing his loneliness. The song marks the beginning of their long-term relationship, with sentimental lyrics like "I think I'll love you for a long, long time" and "I think I'll miss you for a long, long time" in the chorus. time. "
"I thought that would happen, that there would be a song that would play, and we'd be surprised at who was good at it and who wasn't," showrunner Craig Mazin told IndieWire. "I remember saying to [creator] Neil [Druckmann], 'I'm not sure what the song is, I just know it has to be an incredibly sad song about longing for love, and never getting love, Just let yourselves rest in the fact that you'll be alone forever. But it can't be the nose. It can't be a song we all know.'" After texting Seth Rudetsky, Mazin hosts Sirius to one of his buddies XM's On Broadway, "Describes what I need, and in 30 seconds it's [incoming text noise]". Long, Long Time author Linda Ronstadt,'" he recalls. "I kind of remember that song. I played it and I was like, 'Oh my god. right there.
According to Mazin, "The whole idea is to reach a climax in life, when love means something else." Bill and Frank's story in episode three of The Last of Us is very different from their story in the video game, The foundation of the series, but Mazin recalls Druckmann telling him there was room for improvement in expanding on the source material. "'Even if a character doesn't appear on our show,'" Mazin recalls Druckmann, "'these people end happier than they did in the game.'"
The episode was beloved by fans of the video game adaptation and has been hailed on social media as one of the best depictions of a gay couple on television. Detour also teaches its protagonist not to harden his heart. "I used to hate the world and be happy when everyone died," Bill wrote in his final letter to Joel (Pedro Pascal). "But I was wrong because there was one man worth saving." No matter what happens next on The Last of Us, this hour of TV will stay with us for a long, long time.