I decided to buy the discounted new Green Day album from Amazon the same day I was streaming a Colleen Green EP released earlier this year without really thinking. And then … I never considered Green Day an EMO band, but “Still Breathing” could be something straight from a Promise Ring album or a Jimmy Eat World album. So much so I had to look to see if it was in fact a cover of a EMO band song. As soon as I heard it, I thought of Dylan and a few conversations we had about EMO music. For a while he seemed to be fixated on the genre. I kept telling him that he shouldn’t look at music as a bunch of genres or boundaries. After all, somebody lumped Fall Out Boy into the same grouping as Promise Ring, Jawbreaker, Joan of Arc and American Football.

So many connections, I wondered if maybe Dylan made these choices for me to let me know he was still out there with us. Colleen Green, Green Day and EMO. Despite all kinds of things competing for a moment in my mind, this came to the front of the line. I remembered the year Dylan broke into a version of Green Day’s “Welcome To Paradise” in the middle of his Christmas recital song. A few mis-steps along the way. I think he was nervous. He liked playing their songs. I think mostly because they were easy to play.

Merry Christmas, Dylan. I miss you.

“I’m like a junkie tying off for the last time
I’m like a loser that’s betting on his last dime
Oh I’m still alive”
Green Day