I haven’t been able to find a video of John Mellencamp’s “Longest Days” that I love. Any real videos have a slightly different version than the one he released on his Life, Death, Love and Freedom album in 2008. For me, it gets no better than the album version. Most of the live versions have Mellencamp changing up the lyrics slightly and his voice is best on the studio version. Probably because that’s the version I know the best. What the video below lacks visually, it more than makes up for musically. The lyrics are poignant and the music is evocative too.
I listened to this song a lot while Lara was sick. I wasn’t seeking sorrow, the grief was present without my helping it along. Nevertheless, in many ways, I felt like I was front-loading my grief. Not in front of her. I reserved my harshest sob sessions for my private hikes through the woods or running my ass off down a gravel road in Northern California. What was I trying to outrun? My personal demons, I guess.
Personal pity aside, what makes this song so wonderful? For starters, the opening line: “It seems like once upon a time ago” communicates so much to me. The singer doesn’t know exactly when it was and it has a fairytale quality to it. Did this time ever even exist? Or is he just despairing at his current situation? More importantly, does its existence being real or imagined even matter? I suspect it existed and that’s what makes the rest of the song so mournful. Infirmity and feebleness will come for us all.
The part of this song that gets me the most rests in its chorus: “That’s when life is short / even in its longest days”
I consider myself a Stoic (most days). And Seneca wrote, “It’s not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it.” I’ve tried to adopt this philosophy as part of my personal ethos. Is it still true when you or your loved ones “go before their time”? I’m still figuring that out, but I’m trying to be quick about it. After all, nothing lasts forever. Not even hangovers. Take care!
