Songfacts®:

• This meditative and hopeful ballad finds Eddie Vedder looking to those "future days," and feeling the love for those friends and loved ones he lost along the way. The song was debuted live at Chicago's Wrigley Field in July 2013. "I think it'll be one of those that people cry to, hopefully get a little closer to their loved ones when they hear it," said guitarist Mike McCready to Billboard magazine. "I was feeling that that night [at Wrigley Field]. I was feeling it with the whole crowd."
• The "crooked hearts" lyric is a reference to the accidental drowning of Vedder's friend Dennis Flemion of the Milwaukee band the Frogs. The Milwaukee rock band worked with Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins in the 1990s and was sampled by Beck on "Where It's At."
• Mike McCready told Kerrang! magazine: "The thing that strikes me about that song is his (Eddie's) harmony on it. It gets me every time. And the subject matter of 'I'm older now... gets me too."
• "Future Days" is a central emotional motif for The Last Of Us franchise, symbolizing the deep bond, love, and loss between the main characters, Joel and Ellie. Its significance began with The Last of Us Part II video game, where Joel performs the song for Ellie during one of the game's most moving scenes. The song recurs throughout the game's story, serving as a musical anchor that represents their connection and the grief that follows Joel's death.
  
  The HBO adaptation continues this tradition: in season 2 episode 5, Ellie is shown singing the opening line of "Future Days" in a Seattle theater, echoing the game's memorable scene and reinforcing the song's role as a touchstone for her memories of Joel.
• Pearl Jam released The Last of Us, a 4-track collection of songs connected to the franchise, on May 12, 2025. The EP includes the studio edition of "Future Days" from Lightning Bolt and a live rendition recorded at the Ohana Festival in 2024.
• Pearl Jam dropped a music video for "Future Days" on May 12, 2025 featuring Paul Ribera's illustrations.