“September” (Earth, Wind & Fire)

On this, the 21st of September, it’s only fitting that our classic song of the day is “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire. It’s right there in the lyric:

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

Or maybe you remember the nonsense lyrics in the chorus, all those “Ba-du-das?” Co-songwriter Allee Willis was initially bothered by all that gibberish, complaining to lyricist Maurice White:

“What the fuck does ‘ba-dee-ya’ mean?’ And he [White] essentially said, ‘Who the fuck cares?’ I learned my greatest lesson ever in songwriting from him, which was never let the lyric get in the way of the groove.”

And what a groove the song has, typical of EWF’s funk and soul roots. It’s a song about about falling in love on the date in question, which happens to be two days before the fall equinox. I suppose they could have written about the 23rd of September, but the 21st was the due date of singer Maurice White’s son Kahbran, so that’s that. (Oh, and happy birthday Kahbran!)

“September” was written by bandmates Maurice White, Al McKay, and Allee Willis. It was actually recorded in September of 1978 and released as a single in November, which is a pretty quick turnaround. It rose all the way to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot R&B Songs chart. The song is a true classic today.

Maurice White, formerly of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, formed Earth, Wind & Fire in Chicago in 1969. The group is kind of a horn band, because they have horns, and very much an R&B band. They’ve had seven top 10 hits (“Shining Star,” “Sing a Song,” “Got to Get You Into My Life,” “September,” “Boogie Wonderland,” “After the Love Has Gone,” and “Let’s Groove”) and won 6 Grammy awards. “September” was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2018, as a recording that is “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important,” which it is.

Earth, Wind & Fire is still out on the road today, often touring with fellow horn band Chicago. Unfortunately, Maurice White passed away in 2016, aged 74.