Pearl Jam is one of the most iconic alternative rock bands, formed in 1990 in Seattle, Washington, led by charismatic vocalist Eddie Vedder, and one of the highlights of the grunge movement in the 90s. The band’s characteristic sound is marked by distorted guitars, introspective and emotional lyrics, and an intense stage presence. Initially, the song Future Days was not necessarily one of their best known, but a video game changed all that. Yes, we’re talking about The Last of Us.

Although Future Days is one of Pearl Jam‘s most emotional and introspective songs, it was on the 2013 album Lightning Bolt, it has always been different. Written at a significant personal moment for Vedder, reflecting his life experiences and feelings about the future, the song speaks of the promise of a better future, being a meditation on the ups and downs of life and the uncertainties it brings. It fits Joel perfectly, but Naughty Dog had to work hard to convince the band to let them use a song in the second edition of the post-apocalyptic game.

The one who put his foot down was the screenwriter and director, Neil Druckmann, who ran after it until he managed to get in touch with Pearl Jam‘s manager, to whom he not only told the full story of the game – now a successful series – highlighting how the song would be essential to the narrative, appearing in the game on more than one occasion as it would be the theme song for the protagonists, Joel and Ellie.

Since visuals always help, Naughty Dog sent the manager a copy of the original Last of Us to highlight the quality and scope of the story, even preparing a special trailer to convince the band. Druckmann was ready to personally beg Vedder for permission, but it came before that, marking the first time a Pearl Jam song had been used in a video game (aside from Rock Band and Guitar Hero).

What was even more exciting was that the video game – which talks about the apocalypse – was released at the height of the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, causing a stir on social media, leading the trending topics, and becoming a cultural phenomenon. More than a symbol of Joel’s love for Ellie and his desire for her to have a future, it was an anthem of hope for many people in 2020.

The fact that the song was in the game did not guarantee that it would be in the series, and many fans were anxious about it until the teaser for season 2, where Future Days closes the images, drove fans crazy. Today, when the name of the first episode was announced as the name of the song, everyone anticipated one of the most iconic moments of The Last of Us, when Joel sings to Ellie.

When the lyrics are examined closely, they refer to Joel’s moment of redemption in the first part of the story, when he takes on the role of surrogate father to Ellie, who entered his life as a job and became his reason for living.

The problem is that Joel lied to Ellie: he took her off the operating table (killing everyone who was trying to operate on her) because she would die so that the scientists could try to find a cure. Joel says that she was “released” because nothing could be done and Ellie is outraged when she finds out. She would have given her life to save humanity and now she can’t anymore. In what will be the last moment for the two, he apologizes and explains himself by singing Future Days to her.

“When I was feeling broken, I focused on a prayer. You came deep as any ocean,” he says. “I believe and I believe because I can see our future days, Days of you and me,” he sings in the chorus.

Faced with the tragedy that awaits them both (SPOILER: Abby savagely kills Joel), Future Days takes on another connotation for Ellie, who now exists only to avenge the murder of her “father”. In the game, she plays the song twice, without singing it completely. It will be a ghost anthem of a reality that paradoxically has no future. It will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the season.

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