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September Song
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Wikipedia article
"'September Song'" is an American standard popular song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson. It was introduced by Walter Huston in the 1938 Broadway musical production 'Knickerbocker Holiday.' The song has been recorded by numerous singers and instrumentalists.
Origins
The song originated from Walter Huston's request that he should have one solo song in 'Knickerbocker Holiday' if he was to play the role of the aged governor of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant. Anderson and Weill wrote the song in a couple of hours for Huston's gruff voice and limited vocal range.
'Knickerbocker Holiday' was roughly based on Washington Irving's 'Knickerbocker's History of New York' set in New Amsterdam in 1647. It is a political allegory criticizing the policies of the New Deal through the portrayal of a semifascist government of New Amsterdam, with a corrupt governor and councilmen. It also involves a love triangle with a young woman forced to marry the governor Peter Stuyvesant while loving another.Ewen, David. 'Complete Book of the American Musical Theater, Revised'. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco pp. 224225 The musical closed in April 1939 after a six-month run.
Lyric content
"September Song" describes an older man looking back on his youth when he waited patiently for love and when time was on his side ("and as time came around she came my way").[http://www.ourgrandmotherskitchens.com/?p=118 "September Song"], In Our Grandmothers' Kitchens He now recognizes the "plentiful waste of time" of those days, and in the "long, long while from May to December", having reached September, he is looking forward to spending the precious days of September and November with his loved one.
Chart recordings
*Frank Sinatra's 1946 version reached No.8 on the 'Billboard' charts that year.
*Ian McCulloch, of Echo & the Bunnymen, released a version of the song as his debut solo single (backed with a rendition of "Molly Malone") which reached number 51 on the UK Singles Chart in 1984.
Use in other media
"September Song" was used as diegetic music in the 1950 film 'September Affair'. The song is used in the 1987 Woody Allen film 'Radio Days'; Allen has stated that the song may be the best American popular song ever written.Stig Bjrkman (ed.), 'Woody Allen on Woody Allen'. London: Faber and Faber, 1995, revised edition 2004, p. 160.
See also
*List of 1930s jazz standards
References
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