September Song in Daydreaming on the Porch
- Sept. 25, 2020, 9:02 a.m.
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- Public
It’s nearly the end of September and I can’t let this strange month in the year of the pandemic slip by without recalling two of my favorite songs, each bringing back so many memories from long ago when times were so different and hope filled the air.
When I was young, September meant returning to school after a long, carefree summer. It was a month filled with dread, anticipation and excitement.
Later, as I entered my adult years, the month became the longed for prelude to October and all the glorious associations with Autumn, that most mellow and wistful time of year. The air started getting cool and bracing and all the signs of the season were everywhere, it seemed. It was a longed for time of year, like Spring, and September was its herald.
This was the way September always was until I moved to the coast of South Carolina in 1995. Then, September became, as it has been this month and every previous September since that year, a somber waiting game as the dreaded peak of hurricane season came and went. The last five years have been particularly stressful because of mandatory evacuations. I always prayed, “Let us get through September.”
But as I write these words on September 25, 2020, the danger period is passing, but not over yet. I’m in my seventh month of self-quarantining during a pandemic that’s going to be with us awhile longer. We’re living through the most tumultuous and divisive political period of my lifetime, and I’ve been around a few years.
When I listen to these two songs, however, I can dream a little dream of more forgiving and mellow September’s in the past “when life was so tender that no one wept except the willow.”
“September Song” Willie Nelson’s version
This was on his unforgettable album, “Stardust,” which I listened to when it first came out in 1980, over and over again. It was one of those near-perfect albums where every song was really good and perfectly blended in with the other songs.
This immortal and wistful song was recorded by many singers, but the version I remember best and listened to in 1965 was by The Brothers Four
“Try to Remember”
The Brothers Four
ConnieK ⋅ September 25, 2020
Your peak season is waning but the gulf storms that come in October do not bode well for us. The first day of school was always stressful for me. I was always sick to my stomach, but fortunately was never one of those kids who tossed up.
Oswego ConnieK ⋅ September 25, 2020
Too bad September is hurricane season month for those of Us on the coast. Back in the day people waxed very sentimental about the month, and these songs remind me of some of the “good old days!”
ConnieK Oswego ⋅ September 25, 2020
Well, I'm on the coast. Just not the Atlantic coast. :)
Jinn ⋅ September 28, 2020 (edited September 28, 2020)
Edited
My Mother’s favorite song was “ Stardust” . I suspect it had associations to my Father. I had it played at her funeral . “September” is lovely .” Try to Remember “ is one of my favorites and we sang it often in a trio I sang in . . Was it from “ The Fantastics”?
Oswego Jinn ⋅ September 28, 2020
Your mother really knew a good song! “Stardust” is one of the most beautiful ever written!
Yes, “The Fantasticks”
Marg ⋅ September 30, 2020
I really love Willie Nelson although came to him kinda late on so have no albums of his. Thank goodness for YouTube! One of my favourites is ‘You Were Always On My Mind’ :)
Oswego Marg ⋅ September 30, 2020
This is my favorite of all his songs:
https://youtu.be/Hf5UvKjCDUU
Marg Oswego ⋅ September 30, 2020
Did you mean that to be the same one you posted in your entry?
Oswego Marg ⋅ September 30, 2020
No the other one was “Try to Remember.” The album is titled “Stardust,” and that’s the one where I like every song, rare in an album. :)
Marg Oswego ⋅ October 06, 2020
Ah ok got you now! :)