According to cnn.com artist Linda Ronstadt’s song “Long, Long Time” appeared not once but three times during last Sunday’s episode of The Last of Us. Fans of the show were moved by Ronstadt’s tune because streams of “Long, Long Time” have increased since last Sunday.
Between 11 p.m. ET and midnight streams of “Long, Long Time”on Spotify increased by 4,900% compared to the week prior. Also the tune has appeared in TikToks from weepy viewers who loved last Sunday’s tv episode.
On the The Last of Us “Long, Long Time” was performed by actors Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman in the third episode which both characters meet by chance, take turns playing Ronstadt’s song at very different tempos on an antique piano and share a kiss. The episode closes with Ronstadt’s number being played on a cassette tape.
On another note Ronstadt’s wasn’t isn’t the first song featured in The Last of Us because the pilot episode ended with Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again,” whose streams tripled overnight from 26,000 on the day the pilot aired to 83,000 the next day.
The latest interest in Ronstadt’s ditty is being compared to the song “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” which gained popularity when Kate Bush used the ballad as a feature in several episodes of Stranger Things last year. Almost 40 years when the song was first released, Bush’s original song returned to charts, reaching number 11 in the UK and number four in the US.
In 1985,“Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” reached number 30. AT that time the fourth season of “Stranger Things” was released in late May and “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” began to bring in millions of streams a day.