If Opposites Attract, Then We Were Meant to Be
A Leap in the Deep End, No Knowing What's Next
***Billie’s P.O.V. ***
More offers, ha! Ha! Ha! This is absolutely absurd. We can’t help looking at these men with their pressed suits and arms extended with business cards without uttering a tiny giggle. These guys were just jokes to us. Green day was happy how it was and didn’t need a major label to keep them that way…right?
That’s what we thought and no one was going to change our minds. All those suits just annoyed us to death. Often times we just threw away the cards or numbers scribbled on scraps of paper and napkins (there were very few of those). But one day things changed, for good or bad I’m still not sure…
***
Rob was a different kind of A & R guy. He wasn’t a typical suit in a sense. He was agreeable and knew some cool stuff. We shared the same mind it seemed. He liked the same bands that we had used as our influences, looked for the same things in music, and actually had played so he knew what he was talking about.
Rob Cavallo worked for Warner/Reprise Records, a major label. Rob wanted to sign us. Rob made me ask “what if”, which in our case wasn’t such a good thing. We were part of the punk scene; we played at 924 Gilman Street. If we signed we would have to say goodbye to everything that was familiar and say hello to mainstream, punk’s mortal enemy. Why, oh why, did I have to be so curious? I never want to feel like that again.
Mike, Tré, and I agreed. We all threw up our hands and decided, “What the heck! Let’s see how far we can take this!” We penned our names on the deal; we signed, and removed ourselves from the punk community. We were on our own now.
***Mike’s P.O.V. ***
Ana is done. She can’t stand being with me anymore. I don’t know what to do now. She can’t even talk to me for a few seconds. It always leads to arguments. Estelle isn’t oblivious. She knows something is wrong. Daddy is sleeping on the couch and Mommy cries and yells all the time at Daddy.
We can’t keep this from her now. She’s caught on and we’re through. Ana told me that she had filed for a divorce the same day I told her we had signed with Warner/Reprise. Good and bad news go together, hand-in-hand, in my case. It’s always been like that.
I’ve been with Ana for four years. Somehow even with all that fights I can’t imagine living without her. Sleeping alone on the couch was weird enough. Sleeping in our bed alone might drive me insane. I can’t think about this it gives me those knots you get in the pit of your stomach.
I want to try and make things work now. But now is too late.
***Sam’s P.O.V. ***
Poor Mike, poor Ana. I especially feel bad for Stella. This is going to be so hard on her. It’s such a shame that they couldn’t work things out. I really thought they would last.
Ana called me right after she told Mike she had filed for divorce. I just listened to her mostly. She was so upset. Apparently I wasn’t the only one planning on seeing their happily ever after written in story books. Shortly after I had hung up with Ana Mike called. During this call there were a lot of dead spots. He and I just didn’t really know what to say.
What do you say when something like this happens? I guess I’m sorry fits but it isn’t the perfect thing to say for a time like this. Maybe it is better to say nothing at all. If it was me that’s probably what I would want.
I had heard some good news a little later on that same day. Starr called excitedly and let me know that Tré had called her to inform her that the band had signed with Warner/Reprise and they were going to put out and album in a few months. Then they would start their first big tour. I was very proud of my friends. Of course I knew what this meant though. They had abandoned their friends and left home so to speak. There was no turning back and if they flopped, oh I didn’t even want to think about it. I had confidence in the boys. They could make it, I could just feel it. Somehow I knew they were going to do something really good…
When I hung up with Starr I instantly told Lizzie. She was at the grocery store when I gave her the news. She was so excited she accidentally knocked over a whole shelf of eggs! How she charmed her way out of that one I’ll never know. In fact I’m not sure I’d want to know!
More offers, ha! Ha! Ha! This is absolutely absurd. We can’t help looking at these men with their pressed suits and arms extended with business cards without uttering a tiny giggle. These guys were just jokes to us. Green day was happy how it was and didn’t need a major label to keep them that way…right?
That’s what we thought and no one was going to change our minds. All those suits just annoyed us to death. Often times we just threw away the cards or numbers scribbled on scraps of paper and napkins (there were very few of those). But one day things changed, for good or bad I’m still not sure…
***
Rob was a different kind of A & R guy. He wasn’t a typical suit in a sense. He was agreeable and knew some cool stuff. We shared the same mind it seemed. He liked the same bands that we had used as our influences, looked for the same things in music, and actually had played so he knew what he was talking about.
Rob Cavallo worked for Warner/Reprise Records, a major label. Rob wanted to sign us. Rob made me ask “what if”, which in our case wasn’t such a good thing. We were part of the punk scene; we played at 924 Gilman Street. If we signed we would have to say goodbye to everything that was familiar and say hello to mainstream, punk’s mortal enemy. Why, oh why, did I have to be so curious? I never want to feel like that again.
Mike, Tré, and I agreed. We all threw up our hands and decided, “What the heck! Let’s see how far we can take this!” We penned our names on the deal; we signed, and removed ourselves from the punk community. We were on our own now.
***Mike’s P.O.V. ***
Ana is done. She can’t stand being with me anymore. I don’t know what to do now. She can’t even talk to me for a few seconds. It always leads to arguments. Estelle isn’t oblivious. She knows something is wrong. Daddy is sleeping on the couch and Mommy cries and yells all the time at Daddy.
We can’t keep this from her now. She’s caught on and we’re through. Ana told me that she had filed for a divorce the same day I told her we had signed with Warner/Reprise. Good and bad news go together, hand-in-hand, in my case. It’s always been like that.
I’ve been with Ana for four years. Somehow even with all that fights I can’t imagine living without her. Sleeping alone on the couch was weird enough. Sleeping in our bed alone might drive me insane. I can’t think about this it gives me those knots you get in the pit of your stomach.
I want to try and make things work now. But now is too late.
***Sam’s P.O.V. ***
Poor Mike, poor Ana. I especially feel bad for Stella. This is going to be so hard on her. It’s such a shame that they couldn’t work things out. I really thought they would last.
Ana called me right after she told Mike she had filed for divorce. I just listened to her mostly. She was so upset. Apparently I wasn’t the only one planning on seeing their happily ever after written in story books. Shortly after I had hung up with Ana Mike called. During this call there were a lot of dead spots. He and I just didn’t really know what to say.
What do you say when something like this happens? I guess I’m sorry fits but it isn’t the perfect thing to say for a time like this. Maybe it is better to say nothing at all. If it was me that’s probably what I would want.
I had heard some good news a little later on that same day. Starr called excitedly and let me know that Tré had called her to inform her that the band had signed with Warner/Reprise and they were going to put out and album in a few months. Then they would start their first big tour. I was very proud of my friends. Of course I knew what this meant though. They had abandoned their friends and left home so to speak. There was no turning back and if they flopped, oh I didn’t even want to think about it. I had confidence in the boys. They could make it, I could just feel it. Somehow I knew they were going to do something really good…
When I hung up with Starr I instantly told Lizzie. She was at the grocery store when I gave her the news. She was so excited she accidentally knocked over a whole shelf of eggs! How she charmed her way out of that one I’ll never know. In fact I’m not sure I’d want to know!