Now that we’ve all emotionally recovered from Sunday’s episode of “The Last of Us,” it’s time to talk about something from a prior episode that I can’t stop thinking about: Pearl Jam.
That’s right, my favorite band showed up in one of my favorite video game series. Fans of the game know this isn’t the first time that has happened (more on that later), but hearing that guitar tone kick off one of the first scenes of episode 7 made me grin like an idiot.
Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. Some context: “Left Behind,” Episode 7 of HBO’s adaptation of “The Last of Us,” is based on the downloadable content add-on (DLC) of the same name released shortly after “The Last of Us” video game came out. In it, we learn the story of how Ellie (Bella Ramsey in the show; Ashley Johnson in the game) was raised by government forces after the Outbreak started and was trained to be a soldier. We also learn how she was bitten by the Infected, but survived.
But before we learn any of that backstory, we are first introduced to this version of Ellie through her headphones and the music she’s listening to while she’s training. That song is “All Or None” from Pearl Jam’s 2002 album “Riot Act.”
It's a hopeless situation/And I'm starting to believe/That this hopeless situation/Is what I'm trying to achieve
But I try to run on/It's all or none/All or none
It’s the perfect moody Pearl Jam song to introduce us to this younger version of Ellie. And in a broader sense, grunge is the perfect genre to express everything going on with Ellie. It’s all about big, outsized guitars, growling vocals, and earnest lyrics. Anger with a purpose.
“When you grow up you have a handful of songs that are like an escape when things get hard or when you’re down on yourself for whatever reason,” TLOU game director Neil Druckmann said in the show’s official podcast. “That song specifically, there’s a certain feel, a mood, a tone…capturing where Ellie’s at right now. She’s alone, she’s at a place she doesn’t want to be, and there’s kind of nothing going on for her. And this song, I think, captures that mood. But it also captures her attitude. All or none is very much Ellie, it’s like everything or nothing. And it’s always this kind of full commitment.”
Showrunner Craig Mazin agreed, saying, “There’s something about the way it starts. the guitar tone tells you everything before Eddie Vedder even starts in. There’s this sense of, ‘Oh God.’ And Ellie’s situation here is not simply hopeless, as the lyrics say, because she’s stuck in a FEDRA orphanage training to become a soldier. It’s hopeless because [her friend’s] gone missing, it’s hopeless to her.”
This isn’t the first time Eddie Vedder’s powerful baritone has graced the world of “The Last of Us.” In the world of the game, Outbreak Day happens on Sept. 26, 2013 (Happy 22nd Birthday to me), which places us 20 days before the release of “Lightning Bolt,” Pearl Jam’s 10th studio album. “Future Days,” the album’s closer, was first performed live on July 19, 2013, at a show at Wrigley Field. “Lightning Bolt” Easter Eggs are littered throughout the game as well.
“Future Days” plays a huge role in “The Last of Us Part II” video game. Joel is a Pearl Jam fan and sings the song to Ellie in one of the game’s cutscenes — a beautiful instance of passing down a song after the original performer is (presumably) no longer around. Later, you play the song as Ellie at a pivotal moment in the game.
But while the game’s timeline gets us to Pearl Jam’s 10th album, the show’s timeline only gets us to the band’s seventh. In the show, Outbreak Day happens on Sept. 26, 2003 (Happy 12th Birthday to me), nearly a year after the Nov. 12, 2002 release of “Riot Act.”
It’s not Pearl Jam’s angriest album (for my money, that’s “Vs.”) but it’s definitely their darkest and most overtly political up until that point.
Songs like “Cropduster,” “Bu$hleaguer,” “Green Disease” and “1/2 Full” deal with mortality, existentialism, and the political climate after 9/11 (which, I’m assuming still happens in the world of “TLOU”).
Other songs, like “Love Boat Captain,” were influenced by the band’s grief and guilt after nine fans were accidentally killed during a stage rush at the 2000 Roskilde Festival.
So, in a nutshell, very heavy themes. Very appropriate for “TLOU.”
But what I kept wondering was, in the show’s universe, how big of a Pearl Jam fan is Ellie? Did she like just that one song, or did she intentionally seek out the “Riot Act” album? How hard is it to find music that criticizes the government like that in the QZ, anyway? We see her running listening to a Walkman, which means she has the cassette tape version. Was that a mixtape (from Riley, maybe?) or the actual album? Is Pearl Jam even alive in this version of the world? Did they all hole up somewhere in Seattle with Eddie, or Montana with Jeff Ament? Abscond to Hawai’i with Boom Gaspar?
For the purposes of this list, I’m going to assume Ellie is a fan and has listened to all of Pearl Jam’s discography. Since the show starts in 2003, this means everything that comes after — the Avocado album, “Backspacer,” “Lightning Bolt,” “Gigaton” — is ineligible. But the other seven are all fair game.
Behold, Ellie’s Pearl Jam Album Rankings:
7. “No Code”
Lots of big ballads, lots of sweeping sonic landscapes. This is a toss-up. I can’t tell if she’d love or hate this. I do think she’d like “Hail, Hail.”
6. “Vitalogy”
As much as I think Ellie would love the opening 1-2-3 punch of “Last Exit,” “Spin the Black Circle” and “Not For You,” as well as the chance to belt out “Better Man,” the rest of this is full of some big experimental swings that probably wouldn’t work for her. Although I think she would get a kick out of the word “Foxymophandlemama.”
5. “Binaural”
Speaking of big swings, the music here is more experimental than anything the band’s ever done. Some songs from this album were rare to hear live at the time and are rare now. But I think because of the way this was recorded (two microphones) and the experimental nature of the music, this album might be a highly sought-after collector’s item at some point.
4. “Ten”
Ellie is 14 in the show, which is the prime age to start listening to “Alive,” “Even Flow” and “Jeremy” on repeat. The album’s a classic for a reason, but I get the sense that while this might be the album she listens to the most, Ellie is contrarian enough to not make this her No. 1.
3. “Riot Act”
Clearly, Ellie likes “All or None,” but there are some songs here that would also tap into her issues with authority (“Bu$hleaguer”) but also her propensity for hope and wonder (“Love Boat Captain”).
2. “Yield”
This is probably the album that best balances anger with hope; you’ve got both “Do the Evolution” and “Given to Fly.” I feel like the music video for “Evolution” might have been a formative moment for young Ellie if she saw it on a TV somewhere. but when this album wants to rock out and get pissed, it gets pissed.
1. “Vs.”
Finally, I think Ellie’s favorite Pearl Jam album is “Vs.” It’s the band’s second album, so I feel like she would want to defend it from people who were mad that it’s not “Ten.” There are also some all-timer “slam your door and crank up the volume and scream in all of your teenage angst” songs here, if she could ever slam her door and scream at the world. “Go.” “Animal.” “Leash.”
But there’s also an incredible sense of longing, especially if you’ve never met an elderly woman behind the counter in a small town. What must a song like that, an examination of an innocuous encounter that makes the protagonist contemplate all the ways she’s grown old around her community, sound like to someone like Ellie, who doesn’t know if she’ll ever get the opportunity to grow old and forget someone’s name? Crushing.
All in all, I think she’d go for the angrier, more rock-sounding albums. Hopefully, we get more Pearl Jam in the season finale or in Season 2!