The meaning of Wake Me Up When September Ends

[nikki0995]

I dont really know if this question is worth asking but im still going to ask it. I was watching the VH1 remasted tonight and they said the song wake me up when sepetember ends is about war. I thought it was about Billie Joes Father(RIP) dying. can someone help me? im kinda confused is it both?

[Fuzz]

When the song first came out, Billie said it was about his dad.

But for the music video, they pointed it's meaning being about war. I think one of the coolest things about Billie's writing is that it can be interpreted in many ways.

[Ryan_]

It's about his dad, and I heard it was also about the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

[green day is]

Did Billie Joe say it was about war or did the VH1 people say it was??

[Laurenn]

the video confused me alot, it was about a guy leaving his girl to go off to war, but then Billie says it was about his dad. So like Andres says his lyrics can be interpretted in many ways

[green day is]

the video confused me a lot, it was about a guy leaving his girl to go off to war, but then Billie says it was about his dad. So like Andres says his lyrics can be interpreted in many ways

Was East Jesus Nowhere about the band performing? Was Know Your Enemy about a fenced in place with GD in it? Was Stuck with Me about the Insomniac album art?

[gdpony]

Well, the lyrics are about his dad, I'm pretty sure he's made that clear a lot of times.

The video on the other hand has another meaning.

[Fuzz]

Was East Jesus Nowhere about the band performing? Was Know Your Enemy about a fenced in place with GD in it? Was Stuck with Me about the Insomniac album art?

EJN wasn't a story video, it was just a live performance. The KYE video meaning was about being watched, possibly like a big government thing. A big hint at who the enemy was. Stuck With me...i have nothing.

But, nice bird.

[Laurenn]

Was East Jesus Nowhere about the band performing? Was Know Your Enemy about a fenced in place with GD in it? Was Stuck with Me about the Insomniac album art?

Thats not what i was saying. I may have worded my statement wrong. But i was agreeing with Andres in the fact that most of their songs have many different interpretations.

[Vespertine]

The video kinda confused me to be honest. I didn't know he said the song was about war though. I've already seen an interview in which he says it's about his father.

[green day is]

Thats not what i was saying. I may have worded my statement wrong. But i was agreeing with Andres in the fact that most of their songs have many different interpretations.

Take the bird picture as an apology for my misunderstanding.

[Laurenn]

Take the bird picture as an apology for my misunderstanding.

lol awww, Thank you!

i shall use it wisely

[clairex]

It is Death of the Author. People interpret something using from their own experience and then the song, book, art etc takes on a different meaning. Billie could have wrote the song about his Dad but once it is out there then the song takes all kinds of different meanings from different people. People say it is about 9/11 because that is what they connect September with.

[in_your_face]

well, it's clear that the song is about his dad.

As told by many above, the video shows the life of a young boy who leaves his girlfriend for joining the army, to secure a better and a promising future for both of 'em.

[mallorymaloney]

It is Death of the Author. People interpret something using from their own experience and then the song, book, art etc takes on a different meaning. Billie could have wrote the song about his Dad but once it is out there then the song takes all kinds of different meanings from different people. People say it is about 9/11 because that is what they connect September with.

Exactly!

Plus, the fact that the song's the 11th track on the album helps the 9/11 interpretation quite a bit.

I don't like either the 9/11 or the war intrepretation, personally --- I like Billie's original meanings the best: A memoriam for his father and a memoriam for the passing of summer.

[Daughter.of.Rage.and.Love]

I dont really know if this question is worth asking but im still going to ask it. I was watching the VH1 remasted tonight and they said the song wake me up when sepetember ends is about war. I thought it was about Billie Joes Father(RIP) dying. can someone help me? im kinda confused is it both?

Who said? Billie? Mike or Tre? Some narrator?

I think it can mean both of those things, and whatever other meaning you would feel that fits with the song. That's the wonderful thing about music and (Billie's) lyrics, you can interpret it any way you want, there isn't something you *have* to think it's about, it's open to your own interpretation.

I think it was originally written for/about his father, but it can be taken in more ways than just that.

Plus, the fact that the song's the 11th track on the album helps the 9/11 interpretation quite a bit.

11th track from the 9th album!

(if you count ISH! and Shenanigans in)

[that_weird_kid]

I am confused to but i guess (as people have said in here before) It could mean many things. Billie probably wrote it about his dad (RIP.) But i guess the video is about war. I personaly think its one of those songs that people can relate to their personal experiences, so the song has multiple meanings. I wonder if we will ever find out the true meaning? lol <----- had to add that.]

[Harriet]

The guy says that the video for WMUWSE is about the Iraq war. He's just interpreting the meaning of the video, not the lyrics. Billie's lyrics can be interpreted in many ways, but I reckon the meaning of this one is kinda obvious.

[Katarina.]

This just shows again how much I love Green Day. Not just the music, but the lyrics as well. They're not necessarily about one thing. They can be interpreted in many ways!

Wake Me Up When September ends is, like Billie Joe said a lot times, about his dad, since he's singing about him (Billie) wanting September to end. The lyrics in the title alone can already be interpreted in many ways. Like 9/11 for example. It's great to have your own meaning to a song, and to read other meanings on a forum like GDC. Billie is a very talented lyricist.

[Shnitzel]

I think it's about all of the bad things that happened to Billie, but particularly his dad dying, so he will say it's about one thing but then make the music video about another.

[pasalaska]

I am confused to but i guess (as people have said in here before) It could mean many things. Billie probably wrote it about his dad (RIP.) But i guess the video is about war. I personaly think its one of those songs that people can relate to their personal experiences, so the song has multiple meanings. I wonder if we will ever find out the true meaning? lol <----- had to add that.]

We have found out the true meaning. many times.

Billie wrote the song about the death of his father.

Of course people can listen to the song and apply their own meanings to the song in their own context, but that's not what this thread is about.

One of the shows I went to in the US (I think it was the US) this year, Billie changed the words from '20 years have gone so fast' to '28 years have gone so fast'

can't get much more conclusive than that, really, along with Billie himself explaining the meaning of the song.

edit: It was in Denver

[Clayish]

It's an ode to Billie Joe's father passing away.

Sam Bayer ruined the song with his interpretation , seeing it as about the war.

[kate_ochoxx]

yea i was looking at the vid on Behind the Music im like NO VH1 ITS ABOUT HIS FATHER!!!

[Hermione]

Billie's said many times what he wrote the song about, and that's what it's about. But like any song it's open for anyone to interpret or apply different meanings to. The video is just Sam Bayer's interpretation of the song.

It's an ode to Billie Joe's father passing away.

Sam Bayer ruined the song with his interpretation , seeing it as about the war.

Couldn't agree more!

[warding_off_regrets]

It is Death of the Author. People interpret something using from their own experience and then the song, book, art etc takes on a different meaning. Billie could have wrote the song about his Dad but once it is out there then the song takes all kinds of different meanings from different people. People say it is about 9/11 because that is what they connect September with.

I thought the Death of the Author theory was more an intentional, deliberate way to (not) read a work rather than the natural inclination to interpret a work using our own personal reference points?

I think that to some degree the two are inextricably linked, but wouldn't Death of the Author mean we intentionally forget everthing we know about Billie,intentionally strip away everything that could have influenced him to write this song, so that the lyrics may stand alone and all meaning is derived solely from the words?

I know that Billie writes his lyrics so that they can be interpreted in a couple different ways, but to say that his experiences or politics are irrelevent to the meaning of the song bothers me. I guess I'm splitting hairs and suggesting that the author can become invisible rather than the author is invisible.

This isn't an attack and I tried to word it so that it wouldn't come across as such... I just have major issues with a lot of that particular theory (as I understand it)