It’s a quiet moment. Just two people in a music shop covered in dust. You’re playing as Ellie, wandering through the ruins of downtown Seattle, and you find a guitar.
Then it happens.
She sits down, adjusts the tuning pegs, and starts playing a slowed-down, acoustic version of a 1980s synth-pop anthem. If you played The Last of Us Part II, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The Take On Me Last of Us scene wasn't just a clever needle drop or a bit of fan service; it was the emotional heartbeat of a game that otherwise spent forty hours trying to break your spirit. Honestly, it’s arguably the most important scene in the entire franchise for understanding who Ellie actually is before the revenge plot swallows her whole.
The Story Behind the Song Choice
A-ha's "Take On Me" is usually associated with neon lights and high-pitched vocals. It’s a dance floor staple. But Naughty Dog didn't choose it because it was a hit. They chose it because of its lyrics. When you strip away the synthesizer and the 169 BPM tempo, you’re left with a desperate, vulnerable plea for connection. "Take on me... take me on." For a girl like Ellie, who has spent her entire life losing people—Riley, Tess, Sam, and eventually her sense of safety with Joel—those words carry a weight that a pop video from 1985 could never convey.
Neil Druckmann, the game’s director, has mentioned in various interviews and the Official The Last of Us Podcast that the team looked for a song that felt like it belonged to a different world. It had to be something "old world" to Ellie. Something Joel might have liked, or something she found on a cassette tape in the woods.
Why the 1985 Classic?
It wasn't just a random pick. Ashley Johnson, the actress who plays Ellie, actually performed the song. She didn't just provide the voice; she provided the soul. The version used in the game is heavily inspired by A-ha’s own "MTV Unplugged" performance from 2017. If you haven't heard that version, go listen to it. Morten Harket, the lead singer, takes a song that was once about a comic book romance and turns it into a haunting ballad about aging and fleeting time.
Naughty Dog saw that. They realized that by having Ellie sing it to Dina, they could show a side of her that the player rarely gets to see: the romantic. The teenager. The person who isn't just a survivor, but someone who wants to be loved.
The Gameplay Mechanics of the Music Shop
Let's talk about the "Valiant Music Shop" in Seattle Day 1. It’s an optional area. You don't even have to go in there. Think about that for a second. One of the most iconic moments in modern gaming history is something a player could totally miss if they were just rushing to the next objective marker.
That’s a bold design choice.
- You enter the shop.
- You explore the graveyard of instruments.
- You find the guitar upstairs.
- The prompt appears.
When you interact with the guitar, the game switches gears. The UI disappears. The tension of the infected outside fades away. For three minutes, the game isn't a survival horror title; it's a character study. The Take On Me Last of Us moment works because it’s earned. You’ve just spent hours sneaking through overgrown streets and dodging bullets. This silence is the reward.
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The Guitar Minigame
The tech behind the guitar playing is actually pretty insane. The developers at Naughty Dog created a touch-pad-based system that allows players to actually strum the guitar. You aren't just pressing a button to play a cutscene. You are physically moving your thumb across the DualShock 4 (or DualSense) controller to make the music happen.
This creates a sense of tactile intimacy. You feel the strings. You hear the slight buzzing of the fretboard. It’s not a perfect studio recording; it’s a girl in a dusty room playing a guitar she found in the trash. It’s raw.
Emotional Context: Ellie and Dina
The scene isn't just about the song. It’s about the person Ellie is singing to. Dina stands there, watching, and the look on her face says everything. This is the moment their relationship solidifies. Up until this point, they’ve been joking and flirting, but the song is an admission of vulnerability.
"I'll be gone in a day or two."
In the context of The Last of Us, those lyrics are terrifying. Characters in this world literally disappear in a day or two. They get bitten. They get shot. They leave. When Ellie sings that line, she’s acknowledging the fragility of their lives. It’s a foreshadowing of the tragedy to come, but in that specific moment, it’s just a beautiful, quiet confession.
Why it Resonated More Than "Future Days"
Most people associate Joel with Pearl Jam’s "Future Days." That’s his song. It’s the song he teaches Ellie. It’s about the bond between a father and a daughter. But "Take On Me" is Ellie’s song. It represents her independence and her own internal emotional world.
While Joel’s music is grounded in the "before times" and a sense of loss, Ellie’s rendition of "Take On Me" feels like a bridge. She’s taking something from the old world and making it her own. She’s not just mimicking Joel; she’s finding her own voice.
The Contrast of Violence
The brilliance of the Take On Me Last of Us sequence lies in the contrast. Ten minutes after this song, you might be blowing someone’s head off with a shotgun or hiding from a Clicker in a basement. The game is brutal. It’s ugly. It’s often miserable.
By placing a moment of pure, unadulterated beauty in the middle of that misery, Naughty Dog makes the violence feel heavier. You realize what’s at stake. You aren't just fighting for survival; you’re fighting for the right to have moments like the one in the music shop. If the world is just death and spores, why bother? The music is the "why."
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Cultural Impact and the HBO Show
When the first season of The Last of Us on HBO wrapped up, fans were already speculating about how the show would handle this scene in Season 2. Interestingly, the showrunners actually used "Take On Me" in the first season—specifically in the "Left Behind" episode with Riley.
They played the original, upbeat version while Ellie and Riley explored the mall. It was a genius move. By introducing the song early in the timeline as a "happy" memory, they’ve set the stage for the acoustic version in the future to be even more devastating. It connects Ellie’s first love (Riley) to her current love (Dina). It’s a musical thread that spans her entire life.
The Technical Execution of the Scene
If you look closely at the character models during the performance, the facial animation is some of the best ever put to disc. You can see the slight hesitation in Ellie’s eyes. You can see the way she bites her lip when she’s concentrating on a chord change.
- Motion Capture: Ashley Johnson’s actual finger movements were captured to ensure the guitar playing looked authentic.
- Audio Design: The reverb in the room changes based on where the camera is positioned.
- Lighting: The soft, afternoon light filtering through the windows highlights the dust motes, creating a "dream-like" atmosphere.
This wasn't a "set it and forget it" cutscene. It was a meticulously crafted piece of digital theater.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Scene
A common misconception is that this was just a tribute to the 80s. People think it’s a "Stranger Things" style nostalgia grab. It’s really not. If you look at the history of the game's development, the choice was much more personal.
The developers have talked about how the song reflects the "dual nature" of the game. The Last of Us Part II is a game about two sides of a coin—Ellie and Abby, love and hate, the past and the future. "Take On Me" is a song with two identities: the synth-pop hit and the melancholic ballad. It fits the theme of duality perfectly.
Another thing? People often forget that Ellie stops playing. She doesn't finish the song. She gets shy. She pokes fun at herself. That’s such a "human" touch. An AI-written scene would have her finish the song perfectly, perhaps with a dramatic swell of strings. But a human writer knows that a teenager playing for her crush would get embarrassed and stop before the end.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans and Players
If you’re a fan of this specific moment, there are a few things you can do to appreciate it even more or bring a bit of that vibe into your own life.
Learn the "TLOU" Arrangement
The chords aren't actually that difficult. If you have an acoustic guitar, the progression is basically Am, D, G, C (with some variations). The key is the tempo. You have to play it slow—much slower than you think. There are dozens of tutorials on YouTube specifically for the "Ellie Version."
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Explore the Full Lyrics
Read the lyrics to "Take On Me" as a poem. Forget the beat.
"Needless to say, I'm odds and ends / I'll be stumbling away / Slowly learning that life is okay / Say after me / It's no better to be safe than sorry."
When you read that last line—"It's no better to be safe than sorry"—it basically summarizes Ellie’s entire arc in the second game. She chooses the "not safe" path of revenge and love over the "safe" path of staying in Jackson.
Revisit the Music Shop in Grounded Mode
If you want the maximum emotional impact, play the game on Grounded difficulty. When resources are scarce and every encounter feels like it could be your last, finding that guitar feels like finding an oasis in a desert. It changes the context of the song from "pretty" to "essential for survival."
Listen to the 2017 A-ha Unplugged Version
To truly understand the DNA of the Take On Me Last of Us cover, you have to hear the source material. The 2017 performance at Giske, Norway, is the spiritual father of Ellie’s cover. It’s where the melancholy was first fully realized.
The Lasting Legacy of a Pop Song
It’s rare for a licensed song to become so inextricably linked to a video game character. When people hear "Take On Me" now, a huge portion of the gaming community doesn't think of pencil-sketch animations or 80s hair. They think of a girl in a flannel shirt, sitting in a ruined shop, trying to find the words to tell someone she cares about them.
The scene works because it respects the player's intelligence. It doesn't over-explain. It doesn't force you to watch. It just sits there, waiting for you to find it. In a world defined by noise, violence, and the end of civilization, Ellie’s quiet song remains the loudest moment in the game.
To get the most out of your next playthrough, try to find every instrument Ellie can interact with. There are several spots throughout the game where she can sit and play, often resulting in different sketches in her journal or small lines of dialogue. These moments provide the necessary contrast to the game's darker themes and offer a deeper look into Ellie's psyche. Keep an eye out for the "Music Store" signs in any urban environment—you never know what you'll find tucked away in the corner of a ruined world.