anonymous 2005-12-03 22:35:00    

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I at first thought it was about Jonny Cash at first because he says "ring the bells again like at the beginning of spring" because June died at the beginning of the year.

anonymous 2005-12-05 20:45:19    

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It means both Billie Joe's fater died when he was ten, but all the tradgedy that's going on now and all the meaning of god has really put a lot into the song.

naturepants9 2005-12-17 19:00:02    

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There are many possible interpretations. I can see how it could be about losing a loved one, or about September 11, or personally about Billie Joe's father dying. Personally, here's what I think:

I think it's from the point of view of a person who is SICK of happy people, a depressed person. Nothing annoys a depressed person like happy people. He wants to just sleep through the Spring and Summer, when all the happy people are out and bouncing around, the happy people who can't stand or acknowledge hard times (or the fall and winter). When he wakes up in the winter, all the annoying, happy people will be gone or hibernating.

Ollie 2006-01-06 11:13:06    

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Unfortunately I see there`s an argument about the meaning of this song. This song is very important for me so I thought a lot about its meaning.

In the opera of the American Idiot, this song tells about the desperate Jesus of Suburbia who lost his only friend and so a part of himself died. But I think there`s a very personal note in this song that was already mentioned.
Surely Billie Joe wrote this song about his father`s death,
he died 20 years ago. " 20 years have gone so fast" The rain falling from the stars might be the tears of him. The most interesting part is " As my memories rests, but never forgets what I lost"
His father died many years ago and he was forced to live his life, he had problems and a lot of things to care about, but if he remembers the time of his father he is faced with all the pain again. This is a message to his father: I won't forget you, all my effort is a tribute for you! So it`s also a song about losing a person he really loved, you see, there's the connection to the video where the girl loses her boyfriend in war.

As a third meaning I thought about peole in general. In times of prejudice and terrorism its a message to all the people to wake up, to begin feel individual. September is presented as a bad dream connected with the hope to wake up.

Also I think everybody has an own meaning for this song, everybody who has lost someone he loved, who wishes for better times to come.

As an personal statement, I really love this song for the hope and thoughts he gave to me.

Greez, from Germany

anonymous 2006-01-14 12:33:12    

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yes it is about billy joe's father,and you ask why. He did lose his father at a young age but not from cancer, some say that billy Joe was seven and his father went to war
then,his father was shot and killed,or a nearby bomb exploded and killed his father.

anonymous 2006-01-14 15:15:28    

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I believe personally that this song is NOT about 9/11 (not really, anyway, though it has been applied that way because it fits). It's about Billie Joe's father, as previously mentioned by many people.
Many people have speculated that Jesus of Suburbia's story is semi-autobiographical, and elements of Billie-Joe's life are in there, along with the fictional story line. Therefore, I think this song fits both Billie-Joe's story and JOS's story, because the two stories are intertwined.
JOS could have lost HIS father too.
They are both mourning. This song is also a lament for how fast life passes, and how before you know it JOS (and Billie-Joe) have both grown from boys to men, and their father's have died, maybe before they could come to terms with them over somethings. (After all, JOS ran away from home and obviously his home life and relationship with his dad wasn't real good, maybe he was already gone at that point, but a lot of time has passed since then, JOS is a man now and wishes he could've cleared some things up, or come to terms with his past and his father, or whatever, and he feels truely sad and empty because of his father's passing.) You could also cross-apply other arguements about losing his friends, St. Jimmy (who was like a father-figure, even if he only might be a split personality), etc, as they fit into this as well. But that's just how I feel.

paulette_2002 2006-01-14 21:09:12    

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September is in Fall. The season of Fall represents death and loss. JOS is sick of the season of loss, of lives, girlfriends, a job, etc. He wants to sleep off the season of loss, of lives, girlfriends, a job, etc. He wants to sleep through it and not wake again until things are stagnant(winter)in preparation for a season of new life (spring). This relates both to 9-11 and his fathers death not to mention anything else anyone can ever experience. Any time of grief, loss, and things generally going all to heck.

vw4lifee 2006-01-18 04:58:21    

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That one guy is right, a good artist leaves the end open. The song is about the military. The part about 20 years has gone and past is about the kid serving 20 years in the military. That is the retirment time. the title is also about how she has to wait until he gets back from iraq in september. I am not saying the other stuff is wrong, but this is just a diffrent look at it.

Whatshername 2006-01-30 18:47:59    

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This is not really what I think the song is about coz I have lots of different meanings and if I tried to explain it I would go on for ever and ever... but I really think it is a powerful song and everytime BJ sings it he relives what it's about (mostly his father).. When I went to their concert one month ago he started crying like he does in many of the concerts when he sings this song. But one of the most amazing things was that when he was at our concert he sang the line "Here comes the rain again falling from the stars..." and to everyones suprise a miracle happened and it started raining!! At that point I realised how much emotion had gone into the song and that Billie Joe must have had so many things go on in his life to be able to write the songs full of emotion the way he did with every single word!!! I LOVE YOU BILLIE JOE!!!!!

anonymous 2006-03-23 23:03:15    

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Let me make a few things clear.

A good song writer does not write leaving things open-ended for other people to figure out. It isn't some sort of code. Song writers write songs for themselves and about whatever they want. A song writer knows what his or her songs are about.

If Billie said this song was about his dad, guess what? It probably is.

7 years = the timeline between when his dad died and Green Day formed (known as Sweet Children at the time)

20 years = not totally sure about this reference

I wish all you guys would stop being so self-righteous and acting like you know exactly what somebody else was writing about. The video was made about the war probably because nobody would give a crap less if the video had a bunch of black n white photos of Billie's dad in it.

And for those of you who think you're Green Day fans, try learning how to spell Billie's name...

bet430 2006-04-24 19:47:17    

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If you have seen the video, you might think that it is about a young couple that are really close but then he gets drafted into the military. But that is not it. His father died when he was only 10. "as my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost" He is refering to losing his father, that even though he is not thinking about his father he will never forget what could have been. While Green Day was making a video they did not want to show the true meaning of the song they wanted you to think that you knew it while watching the video. In the video the man leaving for war is playing the part of his father, and the woman plays the part of him, "Just remember you will always have somebody here for you, I'll never leave you"

anonymous 2006-06-25 11:29:58    

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people also interpreted this song for hurricane rita for those who lost everything.

razberiblood 2006-06-27 21:14:31    

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Wake Me Up When September Ends has three meanings.

1) Billie Joe's father died in September and this song is his way of dealing with it 20 years later.

2) This song DOES go along with the American Idiot rock opera about the Jesus of Suburbia. Whatsername broke up with him in the song "Letter Bomb," so this song is about Jesus being alone and depressed again.

3) This song could have reference to 9/11, because the music video is about a young couple being in love, and then the boyfriend goes off to fight in the war in Iraq. The girl feels alone and wants to accept the fact that her boyfriend may never come home. This song probably wasn't originally written about 9/11, but the could have later realized the relation.

anonymous 2006-07-27 21:43:45    

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Okay I see how some of you know what you're talking about, and how some of you don't have a fucking clue.
The song is not about 9/11, war, or really the rest of the cd.
Wake me up when september ends is about Billie joe's father that passed away from cancer in september when he was only 10 years old.
When Billie Joe was at his father's funeral, he couldn't handle it. He ran home crying, basically not wanting to take the fact of his father's death. His mother came home after the funeral finding him locked in his room. When she asked his to come out of his room, Billie replied to her "wake me up when september ends," thus later being the song name.
The lyrics; "seven years has come so fast." greenday formed seven years after his death.
The lyrics; "twenty years has come so fast." it's been twenty years when he wrote the song since his death.
The song was originally supposed to be released in dookie with probably a bit of a different song and lyrics, but Billie wasn't emotionaly for it until american idiot.

anonymous 2006-09-11 23:59:57    

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Well you guys pretty much got the fact that it is about his father but you might not have known that the reason he said "wake me up when september ends" is because on the day of his fathers funeral he just couldn't handle it and ran home right in the middle of the funeral and locked himself in his room, later when his mom came home and checked up on him he just screamed out "wake me up when september ends" or at least that is just what I heard

anonymous 2006-10-18 19:34:04    

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Snipedcky, um you my friend are wrong. In an interview with Billie and blender magazine,billie was asked about the song. He said,and I quote," september's a wierd time. It's when my father died,it's when september's over,there's september 11,johnny ramone died in septeber." forgive me for making you lose your cool points dear,but you're wrong.

Macayla

anonymous 2006-11-18 14:13:06    

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I want to clear up this misunderstanding here. Wake me up when September ends is about Billie Joe Armstrongs father dying. Andrew Marciano Armstrong (Billie's dad) died in September 1982 of cancer. Billie Joe was only 10 years old when his father passed. I think the reason why Billie,in the second stanza of the song, mentions "Like my fathers come to pass, SEVEN years has gone so fast...." is refering to Billie Joe's son, Joseph Marciano Armstrong, who at the time this song was written (2002) was SEVEN years old. If you notice, Joseph has the same middle name (Marciano) as Andrew. Billie is thinking of his son when he thinks of his father in the song.Then, in one of the last stanza's of the song Billie sings "like my fathers come to pass, TWENTY years has gone so fast....", because September 2002 would have been 20 years from September 1982. This song like many from American Idiot has a lot of feelings at stake, and to put it down, you are hurting more people than you think because a lot of people connect with this song on an emotional level. People who put down this song, or any Green Day song, are insecure assholes who don't know talent when they hear it!

anonymous 2007-01-11 20:40:15    

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In this melancholy ballad, Billie Joe, backed by the support of the other members of Green Day, takes a trip back to his painful childhood and thinks about the day he lost his innocence when his father died. Like many faced with such a traumatic event, Billie Joe never truly recovered, and he can't believe that twenty years have passed since the day. As Armstrong associates pain with the month September, the month his father died, 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..."

Billie Joe has been known to cry during live performances of this song, and one such performance can be seen on their 2005 live DVD/album Bullet In A Bible. Although, it should be noted, it is not certain whether he is actually crying or if the lighting is only reflecting off sweat on his face.

anonymous 2007-01-20 23:56:46    

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Good song! Plus, I'm glad it was made after 9/11 or Clear Channel would have banned it from radio stations (After 9/11, Clear Channel found some songs that would be a bad idea to play due to 9/11). I know it's not about 9/11 because Billie is talking about his father's death, not the thousands who died during the terrorist attacks.

Angelmisty 2007-02-06 16:15:51    

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This song is about Billie-Joe's dad who died of cancer when Billie was 10