Wake Me Up When September Ends
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| “Wake Me Up When September Ends” | |||||
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| Single by Green Day from the album American Idiot |
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| Released | June 13, 2005 | ||||
| Format | Digital Download, CD single, 7" vinyl | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||
| Length | 4:45 | ||||
| Writer(s) | Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong | ||||
| Producer | Green Day, Rob Cavallo | ||||
| Green Day singles chronology | |||||
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"Wake Me Up When September Ends" is the fourth single from Green Day's seventh studio album, American Idiot. Released on June 13, 2005, the single peaked at number six in the United States, becoming Green Day's second Top 10 single. It also peaked at number eight in Canada and the UK, while making number thirteen in Australia. The song is well known for its music video, which paints an intimate portrait of a wartime situation.
Contents |
[edit] Track list
AU Single:
- Wake Me Up When September Ends
- Give Me Novacaine (Live Version from Storytellers)
- Homecoming (Live Version from Storytellers)
7" Picture Disc:
Side A.
- Wake Me Up When September Ends
Side B.
- Give Me Novacaine (Live from Storytellers)
[edit] Song information
There once was much debate about what the song was about, one of the most common initial beliefs being that it is about the events of 9/11. In the liner notes, the song is dated September 10, and it is track 11 on the album, also named American Idiot. However, Billie Joe Armstrong has confirmed to the public that the song was written as a memorial anthem about his father, a jazz musician and minor league baseball catcher, who died of esophageal cancer when Armstrong was only ten years old.[1]
In this melancholy ballad, Armstrong revisits his painful childhood and thinks about the day he lost his innocence when his father died. Like many faced with such a traumatic event, he never truly recovered, and he can't believe that twenty years have passed since that September day. As Armstrong associates pain with the month September, he would rather not deal with anything related to the month, prompting him to sing, "As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost... Wake me up when September ends..."
This song is in the key of G major and is four minutes and forty five seconds long. The verses are an example of 32-bar AABA form.
The song's melody is remarkably similar to melody of "Rockin' Chair" by Oasis. The drum pattern is also similar to "Crawling" by Linkin Park
[edit] Music video
The video clip of the song features the story of a teenage couple, played by Jamie Bell and Evan Rachel Wood.
The video strays from the original meaning of the song and instead focuses on the teenage couple as the boyfriend promises never to leave his girlfriend. Later in a lengthy sequence, the girlfriend confronts him about something he did (open-ended), repeatedly yelling, "How could you do this to me?" Although the audience's initial assumption may be that he was unfaithful, subsequent scenes reveal that he in fact enlisted in the United States Marine Corps without her knowledge. The video then shows the boyfriend in battle in Iraq being ambushed by insurgents. The war scene cuts out with the boyfriend taking cover after being separated from his squad in the ambush. It cuts back to the girlfriend again, where she is crying. Since the war scene suddenly cuts out, the viewer is left to think about what might have happened. This video adds to the American Idiot anti-war sentiment of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Like the rest of the videos from the album American Idiot, Samuel Bayer was the director. The video features one of Green Day's touring support guitarists, Jason White.
The song eventually became a tribute song to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and sound bytes were added from various news coverages to the song. A live version of the song, recorded on September 3, 2005 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts was released soon after and dedicated to the hurricane's victims.
This is the second time Jason White has appeared in a Green Day video, first appearing in When I Come Around.
[edit] Comprehensive charts
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 | 6 |
| Pop 100 | 4 |
| Modern Rock Tracks | 2 |
| Mainstream Rock Tracks | 12 |
| Hot Digital Tracks | 3 |
| Hot Digital Tracks | 32 |
| Top 40 Mainstream | 3 |
| Adult Top 40 | 2 |
| Adult Contemporary | 13 |
| Hot Ringtones | 14 |
| World Chart Show | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart | 8 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 13 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Chinese Singles Chart | 7 |
| Netherlands Singles Chart | 21 |
| Ireland Singles Chart | 13 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 33 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 10 |
| Russian Airplay Chart | 26 |
| German Single Charts | 22 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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