Have you ever been so obsessed with a song that you wish you could share a cup of coffee with the singer and just say, “Tell me everything about this.”

I’ve wished for that more than once or twice in my life.

Lately, I can’t stop listening to “Screaming Infidelities” by Ruston Kelly.

It’s a cover of a Dashboard Confessional song from 2000. I had never heard the original, so the lyrics hit me in the gut for the first time a few weeks ago, when Kelly shared his version on Instagram. He recorded the heartbreaker with Dashboard frontman Chris Carrabba, who called their collaboration “the definitive version of this song for me.”

The song got to me, in the same way harsh words from a friend can play over and over in your mind. So when I noticed the Nashville-based singer has an upcoming show in Denver, I knew I wanted to talk to him.

I’ve been obsessing over lyrics for as long as I can remember, probably since I first heard Dolly Parton sing, “Pour yourself a cup of ambition” or Elvis Presley’s version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” leaping through my mom’s car radio.

My favorite songs, just like my favorite books, have taught me to appreciate the craft of songwriting and words in general.

And, maybe, that has something to do with how I got here. I started in August as a features reporter at The Gazette. Four years ago, I interned here during the summer after I graduated college and I went on to work at a few other newspapers. I’m happy and thankful to be back in Colorado Springs, where I’ll be covering arts and entertainment, among other things.

So far, I’ve covered Bon Iver’s concert at Red Rocks and Maggie Rogers’ show at Mission Ballroom. I’ve written about Little Man Ice Cream and about women being drastically underplayed in country music.

Now I’m launching this space, where I’ll write about songs I can’t stop listening to, share thoughts about music trends and stories from shows or interviews. Mainly, I hope to start conversations, because some of my favorite conversations revolve around music.

That brings me back to Ruston Kelly.

We didn’t share a coffee, but we talked on the phone recently and, first things first, I asked him about “Screaming Infidelities.”

Here’s a sample of the heart-wrenching lyrics: “As for now I’m gonna hear the saddest songs and sit alone and wonder how you’re making out. As for me, I wish that I was anywhere with anyone, making out.”

It’s brutal. But it also had a beautiful effect on Kelly, he said.

“It’s the quintessential emo song in my opinion,” Kelly, 31, told me. “He (Carrabba) kind of started the idea of unashamed vulnerability that’s borderline almost too much. It gave rise to my generation accepting that it’s OK to be vulnerable, shamelessly.”

Kelly knows what it’s like to obsess over music.

“I took a picture of Chris Carrabba to my barber when I was 15 and was like, ‘Cut my hair this way,'” he said. “I was the biggest fan. I mean he’s the King of Emo, like he was the first person to bring it to the mainstream.”

“Insane” is the only way Kelly could describe becoming friends with Carrabba and later recording a song together. “It was this weird moment of (Chris) was texting me about this lyric of mine and saying this song was helping him through an emotional time he was going through,” Kelly said. “And it was just this surreal experience, like, ‘Man, there were so many times I was in my room with your lyrics dealing with my life.’”

It also gave rise to Kelly’s style of music, which he has coined “Dirt Emo.” The phrase was born out of a tweet from early 2019 when Kelly reacted to an article identifying him as a country artist.

“I love when people think I’m a country artist no sorry I’m actually dirt emo,” he tweeted.

Kelly defines the genre this way: “I would just say it’s confessional-type lyrics, emotional vulnerability with folk instrumentation.”

And now it’s the title of his upcoming album of covers, “Dirt Emo: Vol. 1.” It comes out Oct. 11 and includes versions of “Teenage Dirtbag” and, amazingly, my favorite Taylor Swift song, “All Too Well.”

Kelly calls Swift’s song “extremely emo.”

“Come on,” he said. “That (song) made me cry the first time I heard it.”

Taylor Swift, by the way, liked his version enough that she posted about it on social media.

Near the end of our conversation, Kelly said listening to — and singing — those songs always help him feel his feelings. And they help him feel better. I can relate.

“It’s like if you sit down with a friend of yours and they’ve had a similar experience,” Kelly said. “You can immediately wrap your head around whatever it is a little bit better.”

Kelly is scheduled to play Tuesday at the Bluebird Theatre in Denver.