User blog comment:KennyChief/Steve Rogers' books/@comment-1509585-20160308120958/@comment-6127681-20160308161218

What is also cool is the song that's playing: "It's been a long, long time". That song has three meanings that I can pick up; there could be many more layers of subtext. First of all, that song is not nostalgic for Steve. It was released in December of 1945, over 6 months after when he went into the ice. He hasn't heard it before the Twenty-first century. But it's obviously old-timey. What I take from this is Steve is not truly happy in the 21st century. ("I thought i could throw myself back in; serve... it's just not the same," "What makes you happy?" "I don't know"), and this is his way of "unpausing" his life in the 40s. He's pretending that he's still back in the 40s and living his life as if he never left the forties, moving forward in time at the same rate, gradually introducing those things he missed so he can feel more at home. Second, it also plays when Bucky is near, the first time Steve's seen him since 1945. The third part is the most simplistic; it's simply been so long since he was home in the 40s. ("It's been so long... so long" (Peggy))