One of the greatest hit songs from punk-rock band Green Day ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’ was included in their 7th album ‘American Idiot’ in 2004 is turning 20 years old this month. Still, this song not only has a great music composition and lyrics, it also has a very deep and emotional background for those who don’t know.
The Meaning Behind The Song
It was during the month of September 1982 when Billie Joe Armstrong’s dad, singer of the band, sadly passed away due to cancer when Billie was only 10 years old.
Armstrong attended the funeral services, but, he wasn’t able to control his emotions. He cried and ran out of the funeral to his home where he locked himself in his room.
When his mother got home and knocked on the door of his room, he told her, “Wake me up when September ends” coming up with the title of what would become one of the band’s biggest songs.
In an interview on the Howard Stern Show, Armstrong mentioned the lyrics were actually inspired by the grief he now feels every time during that month.
Stern asked Armstrong if he ever thinks about his father when performing or hearing the song. “I think about him every day, really. I kinda avoided writing about him for many years, and then finally having a breakthrough like that felt good. It wasn’t like a negative emotion so much, but it was just kind of like honoring him.”
“I think it’s something that just stayed with me; the month of September being that anniversary that always is just, I don’t know, kind of a bummer,” Armstrong told Stern.
The Video
The original music video, now banned in the USA due to pending SESAC agreement, was directed by Samuel Bayer, best known for his work with other great bands such as Nirvana and Metallica. Bayer wrote the idea for the video, which he envisioned as a mini-movie.
Bayer wrote the treatment for the video after interviewing soldiers who had signed up to fight after being persuaded by a television advertisement. He claims the music video was an attempt to “turn the machine on itself” by acting as a commercial for “free thought of peace.”
Instead, here is the Demo video of Green Day’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends.“
