Introduction
In a world flooded with love songs, very few can truly stop time. Yet in 1970, a young woman with an angelic face and a voice that could tear through steel gave the world something far more dangerous than just another ballad. Linda Ronstadt’s “Long Long Time” wasn’t a song—it was a confession. It was the sound of heartbreak so raw, so unfiltered, that listeners swore they could feel their own wounds reopen the moment her voice filled the air.
When Ronstadt sang the words, it was as if the entire universe conspired to remind us of every unrequited love, every betrayal, every endless night spent waiting for someone who would never return. The performance didn’t just touch audiences—it destroyed them emotionally. Listeners reported breaking down in tears during late-night radio plays, while critics described the song as “too painful to endure more than once in a sitting.” Imagine a song so powerful that people both feared and craved it—that’s the terrifying magic of “Long Long Time.”
And here’s the shocking truth: this wasn’t just a career-making hit. This was the song that defined Linda Ronstadt as a legend. While others in the music industry tried to sing about heartbreak, she lived it in every trembling note, every desperate breath. Decades later, when the song resurfaced on the hit series The Last of Us, a new generation was blindsided. Social media exploded with shocked reactions—people saying they had never heard a song capture the agony of love so perfectly. Some even admitted they couldn’t finish the track because it felt like “emotional torture wrapped in beauty.”
Why does “Long Long Time” still matter? Because it proves that true art isn’t comfortable—it hurts, it bleeds, it scars. Linda Ronstadt didn’t give us a love song. She gave us a wound we’ve been carrying for over 50 years. And no matter how much time passes, the pain refuses to fade.
Video
Lyrics
Love will abide
Take things in stride
Sounds like good advice
But there’s no one at my side
And time washes clean love’s wounds unseen
That’s what someone told me
But I don’t know what it means
‘Cause I’ve done everything I know
To try and make you mine
And I think I’m gonna love you
For a long long time
Caught in my fears
Blinking back the tears
I can’t say you hurt me
When you never let me near
And I never drew one response from you
All the while you fell all over girls you never knew
‘Cause I’ve done everything I know
To try and make you mine
And I think it’s gonna hurt me
For a long long time
Wait for the day you’ll go away
Knowing that you warned me
Of the price I’d have to pay
And life’s full of flaws
Who knows the cause?
Living in the memory of a love that never was
‘Cause I’ve done everything I know
To try and change your mind
And I think I’m gonna miss you
For a long long time
‘Cause I’ve done everything I know
To try and make you mine
And I think I’m gonna love you
For a long long time
