Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day
Song Information
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a song by American rock band Green Day. It was released as the fourth single from their seventh album, American Idiot. 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. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" had sold 1,652,000 copies as of May 2010, and was the second highest selling single in the U.S. from American Idiot, behind only the multi-platinum "Boulevard of Broken Dreams". There was once much debate regarding the meaning of this song, one of the most common initial beliefs being that it was about the events of 9/11. In the liner notes, the song is dated September 10, and it is track 11 on the album. However, Billie Joe Armstrong has confirmed that the song was written as a memorial to his father, a jazz musician and truck driver, who died of esophageal cancer in 1982 when Armstrong was only ten years old. Show video tutorial!
About the Artist
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool. Cool replaced former drummer John Kiffmeyer in 1991, prior to the recording of the band's second album, Kerplunk, and has been a member of the band ever since. Green Day was originally part of the punk scene at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, California. The band's early releases for independent record label Lookout! Records earned it a grassroots fanbase. In 1994, its major label debut Dookie became a breakout success and eventually sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. and 15 million worldwide. As a result, Green Day was widely credited, alongside fellow California punk bands The Offspring and Rancid, with popularizing and reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States. Green Day's three follow-up albums, Insomniac, Nimrod, and Warning did not achieve the massive success of Dookie, but they were still successful, reaching double platinum, double platinum, and gold status respectively.
