Ellie’s guitar song, Through The Valley, Love Buzz and more: episode after episode, the best songs from The Last Of Us Season 2.
Since the second season of The Last of Us premiered on HBO Max, every episode has been a constant surprise. The plot twists haven’t been lacking, and Ellie is following a path we never would have imagined before the season began. And the soundtrack is more relevant than ever. Each episode features a memorable, meaningful track that sticks with you as an integral part of the story. There’s definitely a song you wanted to discover in The Last of Us Season 2 — you’ll find it in this article.
Love Buzz in Episode 1
In the first episode, there’s a tremendously catchy rock song playing on the stereo while Ellie is cleaning her gun. Many viewers likely recognized it: it’s Love Buzz, in the grunge version by Nirvana. You can find it below.
That song is a perfect example of the early grunge sound and captures a mood of angst and rebellion — a perfect match for Ellie’s intense, conflicted state of mind in Season 2. For those who don’t know, Nirvana’s version is actually a cover: the original track was released back in 1969 by the Dutch rock band Shocking Blue, known for their psychedelic sound and international hit Venus. You can listen to their original version here. And for electronic music fans, there’s even a third take on the song — a high-energy remix by The Prodigy, released in their 2004 album Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned, that gives Love Buzz a whole new edge. You can listen to it here.
Through The Valley in Episode 2
It’s the episode everyone’s been talking about — the one with the shocking twist that removed one of the series’ main characters from the story: Joel dies at the hands of Abby, and the entire community is in mourning. Ellie grieves the loss of the father figure who had cared for her over the past few years, and in the background, a haunting song plays: Through The Valley by Shawn James. You can find the original version of the song here, but chances are you’ll want to listen to the version below, performed by Ashley Johnson, the actress who voiced Ellie in the original video games.
Through The Valley underscores Ellie’s emotional devastation and the heavy weight of loss she carries after Joel’s death. The song’s lyrics, filled with themes of solitude, struggle, and moral reckoning, mirror Ellie’s internal conflict as she grapples with grief, trauma, and a deepening desire for revenge. The line “I walk through the valley of the shadow of death” becomes especially poignant, symbolizing Ellie’s journey through a world filled with pain and darkness.
Take On Me in Episode 4
In Episode 4, Ellie and Dina seek refuge in an old music store in Seattle. While Dina tries out the drums on the ground floor, Ellie finds a guitar upstairs and starts playing a song that will move Dina deeply. The original track is a major 80s pop classic, Take On Me by A-ha (listen to it here). The acoustic version, which is featured in the game, can be found below.
As Ellie strums the guitar and plays for Dina, Take On Me becomes a moment of connection and vulnerability between them. Its lyrics, “Take on me, take me on, I’ll be gone in a day or two,” speak to the hope and uncertainty of taking risks, of putting yourself out there despite the dangers. In this intimate moment, the song symbolizes Ellie’s desire for normalcy, a fleeting sense of joy in a broken world, and the bond she shares with Dina — one that, despite everything, still has room for love and light.
Future Days on Episode 6
Joel sings it to Ellie for her birthday — a song about spending more days together and not wanting to lose each other. The sixth episode of The Last of Us is entirely focused on the relationship between Joel and Ellie and how it led to the last time they spoke. The effect of Future Days by Pearl Jam is even more heartbreaking knowing that Joel is now dead: no, there are no more future days to spend together.
The Last of Us Season 2 ended with episode 7 in May 2025. Will we meet again for season 3?
