JOHN MELLENCAMP feat BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - WASTED DAYS

Released: September 29, 2021

Album: Strictly a One-Eyed Jack

Released on September 2021, “Wasted Days” marks the first-ever duet between two pillars of American heartland rock: John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen. Serving as the lead single from Mellencamp’s 25th studio album, “Strictly a One-Eyed Jack”  the song is a quiet, reflective meditation on aging, mortality, and how best to spend the dwindling days that remain. “Wasted Days” is one of three Mellencamp tracks featuring Springsteen on the album, marking a historic joining of two artists whose paths have paralleled each other for decades but who had never sung together until now.

The opening question—“How many summers still remain?”—sets the tone immediately. Mellencamp guitarist Andy York famously noted: “Not many people would sing a song starting with that line. But I think it’s important… you need to squeeze every bit of happiness and life out of every day and not waste days. Mellencamp himself called “Wasted Days” “a very simple song with a very simple message.” That simplicity is exactly what gives the track its potency. 

The lyrical perspective comes from an older man deeply aware that his “days are numbered,” yet determined to live fully in whatever time remains. The song’s acoustic strum and quiet arrangement underscore this sense of resigned honesty and mature reflection. Springsteen’s weathered voice adds a point of gravitas, turning the duet into a conversation between two old friends—or two versions of the same man—reckoning with the ticking clock.

Mellencamp wrote and produced “Wasted Days” entirely on his own. Springsteen had no hand in its creation. Instead, he enters the song as a sympathetic equal—a fellow traveler from the same world of blue-collar narratives and American storytelling. The musicians on the track include Mellencamp’s longtime band, with Springsteen handling electric guitar. Accordionist Troye Kinnett and violinist Miriam Sturm give the song a warm, rustic palette.

The music video, shot in New Jersey by Thom Zimny—Springsteen’s longtime film collaborator—mirrors the song’s reflective spirit. It opens with Mellencamp and Springsteen sitting in a modest living room playing cards, an image of quiet companionship. Later, the two appear on an outdoor stage, trading lines as if playing a small-town porch concert for nobody but time itself.