The Last of Us Doing to Depeche Mode What Stranger Things Did to Kate Bush

As HBO's The Last of Us bathes in fan love in the wake of its premiere, it looks like there is another classic revival incoming. At the end of episode 1, Depeche Mode's Never Let Me Down plays on the radio, which — spoiler alert! — is a code that something bad is about to happen.

Well, trouble might be coming for the characters, but for the 80s iconic rock band, things couldn't be better, as Never Let Me Down has already propelled to Google Trends. Fans suspect that The Last of Us basically does something similar to what Stranger Things did to Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill (or Wednesday to The Cramps — Goo Goo Muck and, somehow, Lady Gaga 's Bloody Mary).

This might be true since edits to Never Let Me Down are already filling Twitter threads and TikToks, all against the backdrop of The Last of Us enjoying sky-high numbers and critics and audience scores.

Many The Last of Us fans have already flocked to Depeche Mode's Spotify profile, so it looks like Kate Bush will have to make way for the British rock legends as Generation Z's new darlings. After the success of Stranger Things 4, Running Up That Hill became the #1 hit of 2022, even though the single itself was released back in 1985. For Depeche Mode, the HBO effect is yet to be seen.

In the show, however, Never Let Me Down (as a piece of the 80s music) meant that something bad was about to happen (or had already happened) to smugglers Bill and Frank. What exactly goes wrong remains a mystery, even though video game players might already have some ideas about what to expect.

The Last of Us premiered on HBO Max on January 15, with the second episode to drop on January 22.