Wake Me Up When September Ends is a song by the band Green Day, from their 2004 album American Idiot. It was written by lead vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong in memory of his father, who died when Billie Joe was 10 years old. The song discusses themes of loss and mourning.
Key: G
Introduction:
G5
G5
G5/F#
G5/E
G5/D
Summer has come and passed, the innocent can never last
C
Cm
G5
Wake me up when September ends
G5
G5/F#
G5/E
G5/D
Like my fathers' come to pass, seven years has gone so fast
C
Cm
G5
G5/F#
Wake me up when September ends
Em
Bm
C
G5
G5/F#
Here comes the rain again, falling from the stars
Em
Bm
C
D
Drenched in my pain again, becoming who we are
G5
G5/F#
G5/E
G5/D
As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost
C
Cm
G5
Wake me up when September ends
G5
G5
G5/F#
G5/E
G5/D
Summer has come and passed, the innocent can never last
C
Cm
G5
Wake me up when September ends
G5
G5/F#
G5/E
G5/D
Ring out the bells again, like we did when spring began
C
Cm
G5
G5/F#
Wake me up when September ends
Em
Bm
C
G5
G5/F#
Here comes the rain again, falling from the stars
Em
Bm
C
D
Drenched in my pain again, becoming who we are
G5
G5/F#
G5/E
G5/D
As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost
C
Cm
G5
G5/F#
Wake me up when September ends
Em
Bm
C
G5
D/F#
Em
Bm
C
D4
D
D4
D
G5
G5
G5/F#
G5/E
G5/D
Summer has come and passed, the innocent can never last
C
Cm
G5
Wake me up when September ends
G5
G5/F#
G5/E
G5/D
Like my father's come to pass, twenty years has gone so fast