Do You Remember September?

This week at Glyn Wilton’s Mixed Music Bag,
he’s asking us to write about a song in which
the title or a line mentions the current month. 
Here’s my final September artist and their song.

Greetings and welcome to the last day of September and Mixed Music Bag as we conclude our posts for September songs.

Earth, Wind & Fire is a seminal American band formed in Chicago in 1969 by Maurice White. They are known for their fusion of jazz, R&B, funk, soul, disco, and pop. After early work as the Salty Peppers, the band signed with Warner Bros. Records and began their meteoric rise with hits like “Shining Star” and albums like That’s the Way of the World. Renowned for their elaborate stage performances featuring magicians, laser light shows, and a fantastic horn section known as the Phoenix Horns, Earth, Wind & Fire became one of the best-selling musical groups of all time, with sales of over 90 million records worldwide.

Written for the band’s Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire Vol. 1, “September” crashed into the top 10 when released in 1978. In the ensuing 47 years, the endlessly energetic song has taken on a life of its own, with multiple movie and TV placements, and is a certified wedding band staple. And like a recurring Christmas classic that comes around every year, its specific “21^st night of September” reference has led to an annual virtual celebration. Ironically, the date has no significance other than the band liked the way it sounded when they sang it!

“September” was very successful commercially and hit #1 on the US Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, #8 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and #3 on the UK Singles Chart. The song remains a staple of the band’s body of work and has been covered, remixed, and re-recorded numerous times. It was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2018 and (I believe) has received more honors and awards than any song I’ve ever written about.

We saw Earth, Wind & Fire and ZZ Top in Allentown, PA in 1973 as the warmup acts for Uriah Heep. Man, did they leave an impression!

 This is Earth, Wind & Fire with “September”

LYRICS

Do you remember
The 21st night of September?
Love was changin’ the minds of pretenders
While chasin’ the clouds away

Our hearts were ringin’
In the key that our souls were singin’
As we danced in the night, remember
How the stars stole the night away, oh, yeah

Hey, hey, hey
Ba-dee-ya, say, do you remember?
Ba-dee-ya, dancin’ in September
Ba-dee-ya, never was a cloudy day

Ba-du-da, ba-du-da, ba-du-da, ba-du
Ba-du-da, ba-du, ba-du-da, ba-du
Ba-du-da, ba-du, ba-du-da

My thoughts are with you
Holdin’ hands with your heart to see you
Only blue talk and love, remember
How we knew love was here to stay

Now December
Found the love that we shared in September
Only blue talk and love, remember
The true love we share today

Hey, hey, hey
Ba-dee-ya, say, do you remember?
Ba-dee-ya, dancin’ in September
Ba-dee-ya, never was a cloudy day
There was a
Ba-dee-ya (dee-ya, dee-ya), say, do you remember?
Ba-dee-ya (dee-ya, dee-ya), dancin’ in September
Ba-dee-ya (dee-ya, dee-ya), golden dreams were shiny days

The bell was ringin’, oh, oh
Our souls were singin’
Do you remember never a cloudy day? Yow

There was a
Ba-dee-ya (dee-ya, dee-ya), say, do you remember?
Ba-dee-ya (dee-ya, dee-ya), dancin’ in September
Ba-dee-ya (dee-ya, dee-ya), never was a cloudy day
And we’ll say
Ba-dee-ya (dee-ya, dee-ya), say, do you remember?
Ba-dee-ya (dee-ya, dee-ya), dancin’ in September
Ba-dee-ya (dee ya, dee-ya), golden dreams were shiny days

Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya
Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya
Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya!
Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya
Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya
Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya!

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Allee Willis/Maurice White/Al McKay
September lyrics © Steel Chest Music, Irving Music Inc.

Mixed Music Bag 2025 – Type O September

Big thanks to Glyn Wilton for hosting Mixed Music Bag each week. Please be sure to follow the link and check out Glyn’s site.

Thanks for joining me today for a look and a listen.

See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2025

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