September Song

By Kurt Weill & Maxwell Anderson
1938

German composer Weill wrote this for the Broadway musical Knickerbocker Holiday, in which it was introduced with a haunting rendition by Walter Huston (Angelica's grandpa). A tender expression of both regret and urgency no doubt better appreciated as one ages, "September Song" is--in this blogger's opinion--truly one of the most beautiful entries in the Great American Songbook. The great Woody Allen film Radio Days features an especially poignant instrumental version.

Lyrics:

When I was a young man courting the girls,
I played me a waiting game.
If a maid refused me with tossing curls,
I'd let the old Earth make a couple of whirls,
While I plied her with tears in lieu of pearls.
And as time came around, she came my way.
As time came around, she came.

When you meet with the young girls early in the Spring,
You court them in song and rhyme.
They answer with words and a clover ring,
But if you could examine the goods they bring,
They have little to offer but the songs they sing,
And the plentiful waste of time of day.
A plentiful waste of time.

Oh, it's a long, long while
From May to December,
But the days grow short
When you reach September.

When the autumn weather
Turns the leaves to flame,
One hasn't got time
For the waiting game.

Oh, the days dwindle down
To a precious few.
September, November--
And these few precious days
I'll spend with you.
These precious days
I'll spend with you.

Recorded By:

Sarah Vaughan
Frank Sinatra
Lou Reed
Willy Nelson
Jimmy Durante