The Last of Us Episode 7 on HBO landed another emotional blow on viewers. As the series jumped back in time, exploring the relationship and bond shared between Ellie and her best friend turned romantic interest Riley, the creative team continued to use music to complement the story. One particular moment, in which Ellie enjoyed her first moments on an escalator with Riley, had a-ha’s iconic track Take on Me laid over it. While it seemed to be a joyous occasion, some of the lyrics of the song actually foreshadowed this episode’s tragic conclusion.
Why a-ha song Take on Me was used in The Last of Us HBO Episode 7
On first listen, Take on Me is a love song, which fits nicely with the relationship explored and shared by Ellie and Riley in the seventh episode. By the time this installment reached its end, however, it became clear that their romance was only going to survive a fleeting day or two. So, when you listen to Take on Me by a-ha in full, the lyrics “I’ll be gone / in a day or two” are given further meaning.
We know that Ellie survives her bite and has some sort of immunity to the Cordyceps infection, but the fact she no longer speaks about Riley, and only says she has lost people, suggests that her best friend was not so lucky. This adds yet another tragic layer to Ellie’s story: all she has ever known is loss, and betrayal. It goes some way towards explaining why she was so volatile upon Joel’s first meeting with her, and why she has shown such anger and at times, hopelessness at the world around them.
This isn’t the first time The Last of Us has used music to help tell its story. One particularly poignant moment saw Max Richter’s On the Nature of Daylight used in Episode 3, as Bill and Frank shared their final moments together.
