After the Years, chapter 1
Billie Joe, Tre' and Mike stood backstage. They were polishing their instruments one last time before going on stage. It was their majorly hyped-up concert after releasing their 22nd and final album as Green Day. The album was called, "I'll See You Later." The concert was the last one they'd ever have together.
The tracks had same rock n' roll sound that had been on their debut album, so many years ago... Their album went triple platinum, and their first track on the album, "Run Away", was a huge hit. It went well, but the grown men, friends for too many years, had to go seperate ways.
Adrienne wanted to live in Europe with their now grown son, Joseph, who was following in his father's footsteps in a British rock band called, "Sarcasm Ninety-Two." Jakob had married a Japanese woman, Loki Lee, and was living with her in Japan.
Tre' decided to retire, his arms were hurting too much from pounding the drums. He wanted to retire in Australia, where he could lay in the sun while kangaroos hopped by.
Mike wanted the band to stay together. He had nowhere to go. His old band, 'The Frustrators', had broken up years before. He did everything in his power to persuade Tre' to stay in the business. He tried and tried to tell Adrienne that Billie Joe had to stay with the band, and he could visit his sons every winter. But it was no use.
"Billie Joe? Do you really want to go through with..." Mike was cut off in mid-sentence by Tre'. Tre' gave a helpless, yet stern look at Mike, and he ersted his head in his hands.
"We all have to stop at some point. We can't live the rest of our lives as musicians, Mike." Billie Joe chuckled at the thought of their old major single, "Holiday", as he said 'the rest of our lives'. He sung part of it, then stopped. It wouldn't help their situation.
The audience started chanting louder than any other audience Green Day had ever had. Or maybe it was just because, now in their 50's, they were just going deaf.
As they sung "Run Away", tears started to drip slowly out of Billie Joe's eyes. He knew he had to savour every moment. It was the last time he'd ever do it.
"And I cried as I decided... Decided to run away. My life was going nowhere fast... I had to run away. What was the point, was there a point in staying? Listen to this stuff I'm saying. I'm delirious, I must be... I have to run away, sometime now, but not today. I have to savour my life right now, the feeling will never come again... I can't bear the pain anymore... I have to run away. Run away! I have to leave this place, if I don't I'll be a disgrace, nothing's fair, and life ain't either so I have to run away... Yeah, run away..."
He sung the words with power, as the tears now poured out of his eyes. He no longer jumped, he no longer screamed. He stood still, his eyes closed, his mouth moving. When they finished the song, the crowd was on their feet, applauding and screaming.
'Just like the old days,' Tre' thought happily.
Their next song, "Missiles and Grenades", which was about previous albums, went over big. They sung for three hours, with two intermissions. It was the best concert they ever had.
At the end of the concert, Tre' took a bow and made a short speech about him being in Green Day.He left the stage to a roaring cheer, for the very last time.
Next was Mike. He did the same thing as Tre', and waved a fist in the air as he walked off, not daring to look at his cheering fans.
Billie Joe walked off for a second. He took his old acoustic guitar, and walked back to center stage. Absolute silence. The only thing you could hear was his footsteps of his old black shoes, the ruffling of his dark green shirt, the jingle of the necklace, with a 'Green Day!' pendant, that he was wearing.
He sat on a stool and took the microphone. He was crying, but not trying to hide it.
"These last two songs are dedicated to Mike Dirnt and Tre' Cool. To Al Sobrante and Jason White. You guys, wherever you are now, have been and still are the best people I have ever known. Thank you."
First he played 'Good Riddance'. It was the most moving performance you would ever see. There were no dry eyes in the audience.
"This is the last song I will ever sing in front of an audience. It's the only time you'll ever hear this song."
He then sang a song he has secretly written especially for his last day. The song was entitled, "After the Years".
"I wish I could stay here with all of you guys, It's really hard for me to say goodbye... It's a tough thing to do after all this time, and I'm sorry I have to do it... At least we never blew it... I hope you remember my little smirk that I had at seventeen. It wasn't something really rude, it wasn't supposed to be mean. It showed my pride in my music, and I still have that old pride. My hunger for songs has been fufilled, and I have to say goodbye... And it's really hard to say goodbye... Really hard, it's hard to try... I'm sorry but I have to cry.. Because it's hard to say goodbye... After the years."
With that he stood up, smiled through his tears, bowed and yelled "So long, and good night!"
With that, he walked off the stage to a new life outside of the music industry, of which he and Mike and Tre' were legends.
The End.
The tracks had same rock n' roll sound that had been on their debut album, so many years ago... Their album went triple platinum, and their first track on the album, "Run Away", was a huge hit. It went well, but the grown men, friends for too many years, had to go seperate ways.
Adrienne wanted to live in Europe with their now grown son, Joseph, who was following in his father's footsteps in a British rock band called, "Sarcasm Ninety-Two." Jakob had married a Japanese woman, Loki Lee, and was living with her in Japan.
Tre' decided to retire, his arms were hurting too much from pounding the drums. He wanted to retire in Australia, where he could lay in the sun while kangaroos hopped by.
Mike wanted the band to stay together. He had nowhere to go. His old band, 'The Frustrators', had broken up years before. He did everything in his power to persuade Tre' to stay in the business. He tried and tried to tell Adrienne that Billie Joe had to stay with the band, and he could visit his sons every winter. But it was no use.
"Billie Joe? Do you really want to go through with..." Mike was cut off in mid-sentence by Tre'. Tre' gave a helpless, yet stern look at Mike, and he ersted his head in his hands.
"We all have to stop at some point. We can't live the rest of our lives as musicians, Mike." Billie Joe chuckled at the thought of their old major single, "Holiday", as he said 'the rest of our lives'. He sung part of it, then stopped. It wouldn't help their situation.
The audience started chanting louder than any other audience Green Day had ever had. Or maybe it was just because, now in their 50's, they were just going deaf.
As they sung "Run Away", tears started to drip slowly out of Billie Joe's eyes. He knew he had to savour every moment. It was the last time he'd ever do it.
"And I cried as I decided... Decided to run away. My life was going nowhere fast... I had to run away. What was the point, was there a point in staying? Listen to this stuff I'm saying. I'm delirious, I must be... I have to run away, sometime now, but not today. I have to savour my life right now, the feeling will never come again... I can't bear the pain anymore... I have to run away. Run away! I have to leave this place, if I don't I'll be a disgrace, nothing's fair, and life ain't either so I have to run away... Yeah, run away..."
He sung the words with power, as the tears now poured out of his eyes. He no longer jumped, he no longer screamed. He stood still, his eyes closed, his mouth moving. When they finished the song, the crowd was on their feet, applauding and screaming.
'Just like the old days,' Tre' thought happily.
Their next song, "Missiles and Grenades", which was about previous albums, went over big. They sung for three hours, with two intermissions. It was the best concert they ever had.
At the end of the concert, Tre' took a bow and made a short speech about him being in Green Day.He left the stage to a roaring cheer, for the very last time.
Next was Mike. He did the same thing as Tre', and waved a fist in the air as he walked off, not daring to look at his cheering fans.
Billie Joe walked off for a second. He took his old acoustic guitar, and walked back to center stage. Absolute silence. The only thing you could hear was his footsteps of his old black shoes, the ruffling of his dark green shirt, the jingle of the necklace, with a 'Green Day!' pendant, that he was wearing.
He sat on a stool and took the microphone. He was crying, but not trying to hide it.
"These last two songs are dedicated to Mike Dirnt and Tre' Cool. To Al Sobrante and Jason White. You guys, wherever you are now, have been and still are the best people I have ever known. Thank you."
First he played 'Good Riddance'. It was the most moving performance you would ever see. There were no dry eyes in the audience.
"This is the last song I will ever sing in front of an audience. It's the only time you'll ever hear this song."
He then sang a song he has secretly written especially for his last day. The song was entitled, "After the Years".
"I wish I could stay here with all of you guys, It's really hard for me to say goodbye... It's a tough thing to do after all this time, and I'm sorry I have to do it... At least we never blew it... I hope you remember my little smirk that I had at seventeen. It wasn't something really rude, it wasn't supposed to be mean. It showed my pride in my music, and I still have that old pride. My hunger for songs has been fufilled, and I have to say goodbye... And it's really hard to say goodbye... Really hard, it's hard to try... I'm sorry but I have to cry.. Because it's hard to say goodbye... After the years."
With that he stood up, smiled through his tears, bowed and yelled "So long, and good night!"
With that, he walked off the stage to a new life outside of the music industry, of which he and Mike and Tre' were legends.
The End.
