Guitar Arpeggio: Wake Me Up When September Ends, Green Day

There once was much debate about what this song was about, one of the most common initial beliefs, and still a very prevalent one at that, being that it is about 9/11. However, Billie Joe has confirmed to the public that the song was written as a memorial anthem about his father, a jazz musician and minor league baseball catcher, who died of lung cancer when Billie Joe was only ten years old.

In this melancholy ballad, Billie Joe, backed by the support of the other members of Green Day, takes a trip back to his painful childhood and thinks about the day he lost his innocence when his father died. Like many faced with such a traumatic event, Billie Joe never truly recovered, and he can’t believe that twenty years have passed since the day. As Armstrong associates pain with the month September, the month his father died, he would rather not deal with anything related to the month prompting him to sing, “As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost… Wake me up when September ends…”

This song is in the key of G major and is four minutes and forty five seconds long. The verses are an example of 32-bar AABA form.

Personally, I like this song coz it takes me out of my loneliness and the arpeggio feels soothing to the ear. Here, I will be posting only the arpeggio which is played on an acoustic guitar. If you want the electric part, search on the net… you will find many.

So here goes…

{e| |----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
{B| |----3-----3-----|----3-----3-----|----3-----3-----|----3-----3-----|
{G| |--0-----0-------|--0-----0-------|--0-----0-------|--0-----0-------|
{D| |5-----5---------|5-----5---------|5-----5---------|5-----5---------|
{A| |----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
{E| |----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|

{Verse 1
{e| |----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
{B| |----3-----3-----|----3-----3-----|----3-----3-----|----3-----3-----|
{G| |--0-----0-------|--0-----0-------|--0-----0-------|--0-----0-------|
{D| |5-----5---------|4-----4---------|2-----2---------|0-----0---------|
{A| |----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
{E| |----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
{
{    C                Cm               G                G
{e| |----0-----0-----|----------------|----------------|----------------|
{B| |----1-1---1---1-|----4-----4-----|----3-----3-----|----3-----3-----|
{G| |--0-------0-----|--5---5---5---0-|----0-0---0---0-|----0-0---0---0-|
{D| |----------------|--------5-----0-|--0-------0-----|--0-------0-----|
{A| |3-------3-------|3---------------|----------------|----------------|
{E| |----------------|----------------|3-------3-------|3-------3-------|

Repeat Verse 1 except final measure, then              G       G/Gb
                                          play         |----3-----------|
                                               this >  |----3-------3-0-|
                                                    >  |----0-0-----0---|
                                                    >  |--0-------------|
                                                       |----------0-----|
                                                       |3-------2-------|
Bridge
     Em               Bm               C                G       G/Gb
 e| |----------------|----------------|----0-----0-----|----3-----------|
 B| |----0-----0-----|----3-----3-----|----1-1---1-----|----3-------3-0-|
 G| |----0-0---0-----|----4-----4-----|--0-------0---0-|----0-0-----0---|
 D| |--2-------2---0-|--4---4-------4-|--------------0-|--0-------------|
 A| |----------------|2-------2-------|3-------3-------|----------0-----|
 E| |0-------0-------|----------------|----------------|3-------2-------|

     Em               Bm               C                D
 e| |----------------|----------------|----0-----0-----|----2-----2-----|
 B| |----0-----0-----|----3-----3-----|----1-1---1-----|----3-3---3-----|
 G| |----0-0---0-----|----4-----4-----|--0-------0---0-|--2---2---2---0-|
 D| |--2-------2---0-|--4---4-------4-|----------------|0-------0-------|
 A| |----------------|2-------2-------|3-------3-------|----------------|
 E| |0-------0-------|----------------|----------------|----------------|

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