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With the heroic phase of Dookie completed, we now enter the home stretch of the album’s tracklist. To be frank, there aren’t any hidden gems of sonic awesomeness lurking amongst the album’s concluding numbers. While none of the remaining tracks are duds, they’re all very workmanlike Green Day songs that don’t rise to the pop pinnacles of the album’s best material. Still, there are a few points of note worth highlighting in the tail end of the record’s runtime.
The most noteworthy aspect of “Emenius Sleepus” is that it’s the only song on Dookie featuring lyrics written by bassist Mike Dirnt. As opposed to chief lyricist Billie Joe Armstrong’s witty, brat-savant character studies, Dirnt’s words are less distinctive and more restrained. Essentially a lament about two friends who have grown apart, Dirnt’s words are light on details, leaving it to the listener fill in the particulars of what exactly went down on his or her own. Dirnt does express disgust at what has become of his former friend (“And now I think you’re sick / I wanna go home”), but his words are tinged with regret, particularly in the second verse lines “What have you done with all your time / And what went wrong”.
Unlike Armstrong’s material, “Emenius Sleepus” doesn’t contain any spite (either internally or externally directed). Instead, it’s the lyrical equivalent of shaking one’s head in disbelief at how an old acquaintance has changed. Dirnt’s muted, reflective approach to Green Day lyrics can also be found in his words for the band’s first post-Dookie hit “J.A.R.”, a song so good it’s baffling that it never appeared on a proper album release.
