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Wake me up when September ends (Green Day)
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S-11's attacks. A song and one of the most emotional scenes in the American cinema. A music video or a short movie? Both.

This video is  a reflection on the mood in the USA after the September 11 attacks. A September which was, and still is, a nightmare for American people.

- Come here. You know they say life is short... they say you wake up one day and on that day all your dreams and everything you wish for and you wanted they’re... gone, just like that, you know? People... people get old and, you know, things change and, and situations change and... what I want is, I just... I want this moment right now, this day, my feelings for you, the way you look right now, the way I look at you... I just want this to last forever, you know?

- I know it will. I mean, no matter what, we’ve always had this and had each other and I know nothing can change that. But I-I just want you to know, no matter what, you’ll always have somebody here for you. Always. I’m- I’m never gonna leave you. I’m never gonna leave you. I love you
- I know. I know.
- Don’t ever leave me
- I won’t
- Don’t ever leave me
- I won’t, I won’t.

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when September ends

like my father's come to pass
seven years has gone so fast
wake me up when September ends

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when September ends


- You didn't, tell me you didn't...
- Do what?
- Tell me you didn't do it...
- Do what?
- Tell me you didn't do it please. Please tell me you didn't do it...Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God... Please you didn't do it. How can you do this to me?
- Don't please, don't please. I just wanna tell you...
- I love you so much...
- I love you too...Stop, stop, stop, just listen...
- How can you do this to me? How can you do this? Oh my God, oh my God...
- Well, I thought of all those people you would understand. Why don't you understand? I did this for us, I did it for us. This is supposed to make it easier. I thought you'd be proud of me, I thought at least of all people, you would already understand why I did this!!
- Oh my God, oh my God...

summer has come and passed
the innocent can never last
wake me up when September ends

ring out the bells again
like we did when spring began
wake me up when September ends

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when September ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when September ends

like my father's come to pass
twenty years has gone so fast
wake me up when September ends
wake me up when September ends
wake me up when September ends

Just want you know, no matter what, you'll always have somebody here for you. I'm never gonna leave you...

RIGHT NOW= At this very moment. We can use “right” to emphasize an expression of time.

NO MATTER WHAT= Under any circumstances, in any situation, always, it doesn’t matter what happens, unconditionally.

GONNA= Going to.

THE INNOCENT CAN NEVER LAST= You can't be innocent forever, sooner or later something happens that makes you lose your innocence and find out the cruel side of life (in this case the terrorist attacks and the loss of his father).

WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS= This is a nightmare, so when September ends I can wake up and everything will be over, just a bad dream.

LIKE MY FATHER’S COME TO PASS= In the same way as my father has died.

DRENCHED= Completely soaked with water.

TELL ME YOU DIDN’T= He has enrolled in the Army and she has found out, that’s why she’s so hysterical.

I JUST WANNA TELL YOU…= I only want to tell you...

THIS IS SUPPOSED TO MAKE IT EASIER= He has lost his father in the terrorist atacks and he thought that taking action, looking for revenge, was a good way to get over the terrible experience of the attacks. But when he goes to Irak he’ll find out that war is never the answer. Only more pain and suffering... and death.

OF ALL PEOPLE, YOU...= Especially you. You, more than anyone else.
- She lied to me, of all people = it was specially painful that it was her who lied to me.
- They all run away and the police caught my son, of all people = just my luck, it had to be my son and not the others.

Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong wrote this about his father, who died of cancer on September 1st, 1982. At his father's funeral, Billie cried, ran home and locked himself in his room. When his mother got home and knocked on the door to Billie's room, Billie simply said, "Wake me up when September ends," hence the title. (thanks Joe24 for the information).

But, as I said, the video is not about Armstrong's father, but about September 11 attacks and how so many lifes (in the USA and in Irak) were disrupted and broken. The reference to September and the general mood and atmosphere of the song fitted perfectly well into the S-11, so when Samuel Bayer was commissioned to make a video of it, he turned it into a story about September 11th, a boy whose father died in the S-11 attacks and enroles in the Army because he needs to do something about it. But he will soon find out that that is not the answer.

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© Angel Castaño 2008 Salamanca / Poole - free videos to learn real English online || InfoPrivacyTerms of useContactAbout
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