Music video
Who did Wake Me Me Up When September Ends?
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Like the majority of the videos from the album "American Idiot", it was directed by Samuel Bayer. The video features Green Day's support guitarist, Jason White. This is the second time Jason White has appeared in a Green Day video, first appearing in "When I Come Around", ten years earlier but not as a band member. The video focuses on a very loving couple (played by Jamie Bell and Evan Rachel Wood). The boyfriend promises never to leave his girlfriend but they later argue when the boyfriend enlists in the United States Marine Corps. The boyfriend interprets his actions as a way to show her that he loves her so much that he would put his life on the line to keep her safe; the girlfriend, however, is heartbroken, as he broke his vow to never leave her, and terrified at the thought that he might die in battle. The video then shows the boyfriend in battle in Iraq being ambushed by insurgents. This scene is intercut with scenes of the girlfriend tearfully mourning in a quiet field. The video ends on this juxtaposition, emphasizing the pain and heartache of losing loved ones due to the war. This video adds to the "American Idiot" anti-war sentiment of the Iraq War. The song eventually became a tribute song to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and sound bites were added from various news coverages to the song. A live version of the song, recorded on September 3, 2005, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts was released soon after and dedicated to the hurricane's victims. The song was performed live with U2 guitarist The Edge in the pregame show of the Monday Night Football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons; it was the first game played in the Superdome in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.