What month do you think has the most songs written about it? I think it’s got to be either April or September. For April, you’ve got “I Remember April” and “April In Paris”. For September, you’ve got “September Song” by Kurt Weill, “Back In September” (from “The Fantasticks”), the Earth Wind and Fire song “September”, and “September Gurls”. So I guess September wins in a way, but…the two April songs are both jazz standards so they should count double. And “riding high in April, shot down in May” has no September analog.
What are some other good songs in which names of months are featured prominently? Aguas de Marco and Beach Baby come to mind. And I guess I forgot the Neil Diamond song “September Morn”, which I feel is the most Neil Diamond of any song.
I guess Maggie May mentions September too, so maybe September wins. But I think April is at worst a close second.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
Sometimes It Snows in April by Prince on Under the Cherry Moon
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
November Spawned a Monster by Morrissey
p.a.
Here’s a beautiful tune about abril.
ranchandsyrup
November Rain from GnR
Doug!
@ranchandsyrup:
I forgot about that one.
DesertFriar
John Phillip Sousa devoted his compositions to March.
March wins!
D. Hyland
‘See You in September’, The Happenings 1966.
Barbara
Four Seasons “Will I See You in September”
Counting Crows, “A Long December”
And, dare I date myself further: “Pieces of April” by Three Dog Night
bystander
My favorite Spring song sung by the best.
germy
January Hymn by the Decemberists
ranchandsyrup
@Doug!: i can’t forget stephanie seymour in the video.
gbear
April – come she will
May – she will stay
June – she’ll change her tune
July – she will fly
August – die she must
September – I’ll remember
I honestly can’t think of any songs with June in the title, but I’d guess that month appears in the most song lyrics just because it’s so easy to rhyme.
germy
Month of May by Arcade Fire
Ruviana
See You in September! How could you miss it?
Bill
“Wake Me Up when September Ends” – Green Day
Aleta
Calendar Girl
Nicole
” Wake me up when September ends,” Green Day.
ETA: ah, Bill beat me to it.
Downpuppy
October Days, John Lincoln Wright
I heard him sing this in Cambridge at Riverfest on a nice September day
If we make it through December – Haggard
The lyrics always seemed silly, but the song is OK
Ruviana
@D. Hyland: @Barbara: Always refresh the thread before commenting.
@gbear: Loved this song.
Miss Bianca
@gbear: “A Rosebud in June”, but that’s an old folk song…
SiubhanDuinne
In classical music (using the term in its broadest sense), the month of May is depicted far more often than any other month.
low-tech cyclist
Sweet days of summer, the jasmine’s in bloom
July is dressed up and playing her tune
-Seals and Crofts, “Summer Breeze”
But February made me shiver,
with every paper I’d deliver…
-Don McLean, “American Pie”
Geeno
“June is busting out all over”
Suburban Mom
@gbear: Shine On Harvest Moon mentions June
guachi
New Year’s Day by U2. Does that count as a song about January?
ThresherK
June is Bustin’ out all Over–Rodgers and Hammerstein
The Lusty Month of May–Lerner and Loewe
jeannedalbret
Jobim: Waters of March
bystander
So sneaky its name isn’t in the title. Jo Stafford’s It Could Happen to You (“Keep an eye on Spring”).
SiubhanDuinne
dupe, deleted
WereBear
I wrote a post about my cat’s Pandora channel
Tristan’s Favorite Music
No one writes songs about February. It should be the cruelest month.
WereBear
@low-tech cyclist: Okay, there’s ONE song that mentions February…
dedc79
I love Big Star’s “September Gurls”
April Come She Will – Simon & Garfunkel
January Wedding – The Avett Brothers
April 26, 1992 – Sublime
August Blues – Dexter Gordon
ThresherK
@Geeno: One minute ahead! Good show (pun intended).
JCJ
“My December” by Linkin Park from the Reanimation CD
EdTheRed
A few more:
“X-Mas in February” – Lou Reed
“Wake Me Up When September Ends” – Green Day
“Miss September” – Greensky Bluegrass (link, b/c this is one you might not know, but maybe should)
“October” – U2
“I’ll Be Gone ‘Til November” – Wyclef
“November Make-Believe” – Carbon Leaf (another lesser-known one)
“November Has Come” – Gorillaz
“December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” – Four Seasons
japa21
Courtesy of Disney’s Bambi, Little April Shower.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
September, When It Comes, Roseanne Cash, and her father.
ETA: and I hate to mention it in the same post, “September Morning” by Barry Manilow or Neil Diamond
Mike J
September Shirt – Buffalo Tom
September – Dash Rip Rock
Lucy September – Dream Academy
Miss September – Liz Phair
September Song – Frank
August & September – The The
OT:
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
1963 from New Order:
It was January, 1963
When Johnny came home with a gift for me
He said I bought it for you because I love you
And I bought it for you because it’s your birthday, too…
low-tech cyclist
Hot August night and the leaves hangin’ down and the grass on the ground smellin’…sweet.
-Neil Diamond, “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show”
Old Dan and Little Anne
Ah, the Beastie Boys.
There it is – kick it!!!
You wanna know why – because I’m
October 31st – that is my date of birth
I got to the party and I did the Smurf
AND
I’ve Got A Grandma Hazel And A Grandma Tilly
Grand Royal prez And I’m Also A Member
Born On The Cusp In The Month Of November
I Do The Patty Duke In Case You Don’t Remember
Omnes Omnibus
JAMC, April Skies.
Aleta
January Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYvmGR6AnyE
Billy Bragg
evap
It Might As Well Rain Until September — an early, unappreciated Carol King song
Mike J
January Hymn – Decemberists
June in January – standard
February’s Quiet – Big Star
February Stars – Foo Fighters
Two Days in February – Goo Goo Dolls
Xmas in February – Lou Reed
Getaway(February) – Jen Trynin
WereBear
I adore that song.
encephalopath
Silver stars were clinging to an Autumn sky,
Love was was ours until October wandered by
Coltrane and Hartman
Autumn Serenade
https://youtu.be/FIOdFwH1Jxg
low-tech cyclist
@WereBear: And that one song that mentions February fits your thesis!
But I’ve gotta go with T.S. Eliot: April really is the cruelest month.
prostratedragon
“September in the Rain,” sung by the greats of yore, but I wasn’t expecting these guys.
maurinsky
April is in my mistress’ face, and July in her eyes hath place
and in her bosom, is September, but in her heart, a cold December
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4vE2lZWZVU
Calendar Girl has all the months. It’s a terrible song, but it has them all.
low-tech cyclist
Neil Young’s “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” doesn’t mention October, but if there’s a more October song in the rock n’ roll canon, I’ve yet to hear it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
OT:
RandomMonster
‘Then Came the Last Days of May’, by Blue Oyster Cult
Keith P.
“December” – Collective Soul
low-tech cyclist
A cold November wind can cut right through your soul
Even leaves all hide away from the wind November blows
And after all the warmth of the summer and the fall
Cold November wind cuts the deepest of them all
-Willie Nelson, “Cold November Wind”
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne:
That is because those classical composers were all talentless hacks who needed the easiest rhyme possible. Sad!
PJ
April the 14th, Gillian Welch:
And the iceberg broke
And the Okies fled
And the great emancipator
Took a bullet in the back of the head
ranchandsyrup
one of my fave lyrics mentions august but the song doesn’t have a month in the title. from Pavement – Gold Soundz
so drunk in the august sun
and your the kind of girl i like
because you’re empty
and i’m empty
and you can never quarantine the past
debit
@Mike J:
Awwww, did widdle baby get his tiny little baby feelings hurt?
prostratedragon
Not exactly a month name, but “Autumn in New York”, ’cause I like both the song and the subject. The photos do not exaggerate.
Ninedragonspot
Faye Wong – April Snow 王菲 – 四月雪
debit
I can’t believe that no one has mentioned the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Because the gales of November remember.
WereBear
Bleak November, something?
Steve in the ATL
@Mike J:
You are showing your age with that list!
Man, I used to love Dash Rip Rock (Riprock?) in the late 80’s/early 90’s, but when I put in the CD a few years later it was unlistenably (?) bad. Even “Bumf*** Egypt”. On the plus side, they did have that song about Mud Island (reference for Memphis people).
Ninedragonspot
Also, too: Jay Chou – November’s Chopin 周杰倫 – 十一月的蕭邦
Peale
I would think the most common month would be March. Off the top of my head I can think of the Colonel Bogey March, the Wedding March, March of the Tin Soldiers, The Washington Post March…
Mike J
@Steve in the ATL: I saw them several times at the Antenna, and I think once at the New Daisy.
ET
@Bill: You beat me to it!
Peale
@DesertFriar: Damn you!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I beg your pardon? that is the music from the prime of my life, which was very recent.
Why are you all laughing?
Tokyokie
@DesertFriar: You beat me to it. Probably four times per measure.
chopper
yet Smarch gets nothing.
chopper
@Mike J:
daaaaaaaaang
delk
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy…
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
ETA Debit beat me to it.
prostratedragon
@debit: I do hope so. No day would be complete otherwise.
chopper
if you want lots of months, one of the records by the Decembrists has a song called ‘January Hymn’ and one called ‘June Hymn’.
eclare
@Steve in the ATL: Saw them live a few times when I lived in ATL…..loved them then. Think they also had a song Stairway to Freebird?
Steve in the ATL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I feel you–there are many of us here of the same vintage, which you can tell by our musical taste (REM, Replacements, Guadalcanal Diary, Hoodoo Gurus, Connells, Echo and the Bunnymen, etc.–getting too nostalgic to type any more). In fact, I am going to see the hollowed out husk of Drivin’ and Cryin’ tomorrow night, assuming that all the highways between my house and the club haven’t collapsed into fiery infernos.
SiubhanDuinne
Nice thing about “September Song” is that the lyrics actually start out mentioning two other months:
Steve in the ATL
@eclare:
Yep–that was their response to the tired cries of “Freebird!” from the audience. They were a great live act. I saw them mostly at the Georgia Theater in Athens, but they covered the Southeast college circuit.
brendancalling
Spring is here oh spring is here/life is skittles and life is beer/I think the loveliest time of the year is the spring/don’t you? Course you do…
But there’s one thing that makes spring complete for me/and males every Sunday a treat for me…
delk
Another September: Biko–Peter Gabriel
September ’77
Port Elizabeth weather fine
prostratedragon
What, no videos?
“Águas de Março”, sung by Elis Regina and Tom Jobim
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
I don’t know if you like showtunes, but “Springtime for Hitler” was a show stopper.
Jim Parish
If Spanish counts, January gets title credit in Selena’s “Despues de enero”. March, April, July, September, and December are also mentioned in the lyrics.
justsomeguy
“It was the third of september …”
Temptations – Papa was a rolling stone
gbear
@Steve in the ATL:
I’m old enough to be a Beatle Baby (I was 9 when they appeared on Ed Sullivan), and I like Drivin’ and Cryin’ too, but I’m too old to stay awake late enough to go out and see them.
WereBear
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: You can’t do seasons, that’s cheating.
Kenneth Fair
“Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow …
Deep in December it’s nice to remember
Although you know snow will follow.”
Harvey Schmidt & Tom Jones, “Try to Remember,” from The Fantasticks.
smintheus
@prostratedragon: Dinah Washington’s recording is my favorite version of ‘September in the Rain’.
encephalopath
Mickey Katz – Paisach in Portugal
https://youtu.be/pr2YMaWj0jI
Ohio Mom
I’m as corny as Kansas in August
Ohio Mom
@Ohio Mom: and also, high as a kite on the Fourth of July
Mike J
Just in the lyrics and not the title are ok now?
C.W. McCall – Convoy
It was the dark of the moon on the 6th of June in a Kenworth pullin’ logs
smintheus
Great tune, “Early Autumn”, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Here’s the original (1948) Woody Herman recording.
Shell
Funny, you’d think December w ould win with Christmas and all. But how many christmas carols mention the month by name?
Pogonip
@justsomeguy: A day I’ll always remember!–Mick Jagger, Jr
Mike J
Aleta
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: From her statement, excerpted:
Sen. Claire McCaskill
https://medium.com/senator-claire-mccaskill/gorsuch-good-for-corporations-bad-for-working-people-400de6ec8b8b
eemom
It was the third of June, another sleepy dusty Delta day….
Moons and Junes and ferris wheels….
A winter’s day, in a deep and dark December….
ETA: You could feel it ’cause it was the month of June….
SiubhanDuinne
@Steve in the ATL:
Especially all the instrumental-only pieces without any, you know, WORDS!
SiubhanDuinne
@Mike J:
I know we shouldn’t take our eyes off the genuine damage being done (by obsessing over all the tweets and tantrums and distractions), but damn, this Republican President makes it difficult.
SFBayAreaGal
@low-tech cyclist: I love that Seals & Croft song
eemom
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Good. I was fucking pissed at her stupid headline yesterday (“warns donors of risks of filibuster”)
Fuck, fuck, FUCK, any Democrat who caves on this. I cannot overstate this. May they rot in HELL beside Scalia.
CaseyL
I’m trying to think of songs with months in the title or the lyrics, but now all I can hear in my head is The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
I love the song, so it’s not a bad thing; I just can’t think of any other songs right now.
Annamal
Nobody’s mentioned November by Tom Waits…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeAP1KyPDzM
Of course from the antipodes all the meanings of months get somewhat flipped…
Steve in the ATL
@eemom:
Steve in the ATL, J., concurs in the judgment
Geeno
@ThresherK: I couldn’t remember if it was Rogers and Hammerstein or Rogers and Hart so I just went with the title.
Steve in the ATL
@SFBayAreaGal:
Boy, that’s a statement that hasn’t been made much since 1972!
Jack Canuck
Off the top of my head:
‘June Hymn’ – the Decemberists
‘Throughout the Dark Months of April and May’ – Cocteau Twins
Jacel
@Peale: The name tally gets evened up a little with “The January February March” composed by Don Gillis
In this thread about month-titled songs, I keep looking for an excuse to mention the wonderful “Autumn Almanac” by The Kinks.
Steve in the ATL
@Jack Canuck: you know, friendly neighbor to the north, until you posted this I was totally dominating the “Recent Comments” section on the front page. Not that I’m bitter.
SiubhanDuinne
Here you go.
All twelve months in one short song.
terben
‘April Love’, Pat Boone’s big hit of 1957. ‘April Sun in Cuba’ by Dragon
dr. luba
December Skies by the Cowboy Junkies
drdavechemist
From titles in my iTunes library:
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) by Bruce Springsteen
Prologue_Someday (August 29_1968) from Chicago Transit Authority (in reference to the police violence at the Democratic Convention, including some live protest audio–“The whole world’s watching!”)
There’s a complete cycle of all twelve months for piano by Tchaikovsky–my classical piano-playing son was working on a couple of them earlier this year and we agreed that it must have been a particularly gloomy June for Pyotr Ilyich that year.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
OT:
I think that is an understatement. Let us dispel with the notion that that cartoonist did not know what s/he was doing.
mai naem mobile
I would have thought it would be December because of Christmas.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@D. Hyland:
Great song. Here’s the link: “See You in September.”
Ben Cisco
“Eighteen Aprils,” Michael Franks
Hawes
It a fabulous night for a Moondance
‘neath the cover of October skies
Steve in the ATL
@drdavechemist:
I want to party with you
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Oh my oh my, that’s going to smart (as is the Economist cover in the first comment).
I especially like the numerous broken WH windows. Say what you will about Trump, his presidency has ensured job security for editorial cartoonists and magazine art directors for the foreseeable future.
Ninedragonspot
@drdavechemist: not gloomy, just Russian.
Boudica
I Just Called to Say I Love You hits several months.
Shell
Cathedral bells were tolling and our hearts rang on
Was this the thrill of Paris or the April dawn?…
Steeplejack
Bobbie Gentry, “Ode to Billy Joe.”
Ben Cisco
“December Song,” George Michael
SiubhanDuinne
@drdavechemist:
I love that June “Barcarolle,” although you’re right, it is melancholy. But still, one of my favourite melodies.
It was used to great effect in the wonderful 1988 film The Bear, when (EDIT: Spoiler Alert!) the little cub is orphaned.
Temporarily Max McGee (Until Death!)
Prefab Sprout When Love Breaks Down
Oh my, oh my, have you seen the weather
The sweet September rain
Rain on me like no other
Until I drown, until I drown
Ben Cisco
“Gone Till November,” Wyclef Jean & Canibus
Steeplejack
@Steve in the ATL:
Heh. I do retain a soft spot for “Diamond Girl.”
schrodingers_cat
There are a lot of songs to celebrate the second month of monsoon (saavan, shravan) in Hindi and Marathi. Here is one of my favorites
Rim Jhim gire sawan
April or Chaitra is the first month of the Hindu calendar. The new year was just a couple of days ago.
prostratedragon
@smintheus: Was going to go for that one untill I noticed the novelty version.
zhena gogolia
Did anyone post Rosemary Clooney doing When October Goes?
prostratedragon
“November,” Catherine Russell
zhena gogolia
@Steve in the ATL:
I love it love it love it, but probably haven’t heard it since 1972!
Nancy Supler
@Aleta:
Oh yes! Calender Girl…February Brings the Rain. Also Camalot…Its’s May!
Steeplejack
@zhena gogolia:
Here you go: Seals and Croft, “Summer Breeze.”
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack:
Great song!
glaukopis
April Showers?
NotoriousJRT
@gbear: June Is Busting Out All Over?
schrodingers_cat
deleted because WP screwed up my formatting. Will try posting again.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@zhena gogolia:
My personal favorite is “Diamond Girl.”
This thread has led me to another old favorite, Chad and Jeremy’s “A Summer Song.” No months mentioned.
schrodingers_cat
Nothing to do with the seasons, but a Aazadiyaan from the upcoming Begum Jaan is about the heavy price paid by British India for independence. Partition was the final fuck you to newly independent nations by their colonial overlords. Hastily and arbitrary lines drawn on a map without actually even bothering to visit those places resulted in death, displacement and worse for millions in the border regions of Bengal and Pakistan. The toll it took on women was something totally glossed over until recently.
Sonu Nigam (Hindu from India) and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (Muslim from Pakistan), infuse Aazidiyaan (Freedoms) with emotion and passion
Aah nikli hai yahan
Aah nikli hai vahan
vaha ra vaha
yeh aazadiyan
A very rough translation:
A sigh here
A sigh there
Hail freedom!
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack (tablet):
yes, those are both wonderful.
MomSense
@eemom:
Yeah fuck that. This recurring donor doesn’t want Gorsuch anywhere near the Supreme Court. Filibuster! Hell make a human chain around the building and make him fight his way in if it comes to that.
schrodingers_cat
@MomSense: How is your friend?
reluctantajh
@WereBear: @WereBear: February – Dar Williams
Shalimar
“Radar” by Morphine includes the lyrics “if I am guilty then so are you, it was March 4th, 1982.”
Dolly Llama
I read the first 50 and gave up, so if this is a repeat, forgive me. But “If We Make It Through December” by Merle Haggard is one of the best songs ever written.
MomSense
@schrodingers_cat:
Sad news from the last bone scan. They found a new “spot” on her pelvis. Her daughter is going to come stay after she talks with the oncologist about timing.
Fuck fucking cancer.
RyanG
My own music collection is a bizarre outlier in in a lot of ways, but especially in being heavy on Canadian music. It looks like April and September don’t really rate.
January: 1
February: 1
March: I see 122 Marches, but none seems to have anything to do with the month.
April: 5
May: 11. I might have missed a few May songs, since I had over 200 songs using the word in other contexts and might have made mistakes pruning the list. Plus filtering out anything with Brian May involved…
June: 4
July: 12
August: 2
September: 4
October: Nothing!
November: 2
December: 9
Black Label Society – January
Lights – February Air
Rufus Wainwright – April Fools
Queen – April Lady
Yngwie Malmsteen – Prelude to April
Swallow the Sun – April 14th
Max Webster – April in Toledo
Eric’s Trip – May 11
The Gathering – The May Song
Liz Phair – May Queen
Jonathan Coulton – First of May
Michael Giacchino – May 10th, 1940
John Barry – May Day Bombs
Arcade Fire – Month of May
Headstones – Million Days in May
ACDC – Stormy May Day
Liz Phair – Cinco de Mayo
Blue Rodeo – Five Days in May
Spock’s Beard – June
Jann Arden – Living Under June
The Northern Pikes – Snow in June
The Melvins – June Bug
Spirit of the West – July
King Diamond – The 7th Day of July 1777
Electric Light Orchestra – Battle of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644)
Soundgarden – 4th of July
Bruce Springsteen – 4th of July, Ashbury Park
Deathmole – Sunrise July 3
Iced Earth – The Devil to Pay (July 1st, 1863)
Iced Earth – Hold at All Costs (July 2nd, 1863)
Iced Earth – High Water Mark (July 3rd, 1863)
Spock’s Beard – 4th of July
Uriah Heep – July Morning
The New Pornographers – July Jones
Jethro Tull – Stuck in the August Rain
Woods of Ypres – Outro, The End of August
Willie Nelson – September Song
Big Star – September Gurls
Matt Mays – What Are We Gonna Do Come the Month of September
Hayden – In September
Guns n Roses – November Rain
Ennio Morricone – Algiers November 1, 1954
Basia Bulat – December
Woods of Ypres – December of Wisdom
Cowboy Junkies – December Skies
Chilliwack – Last Day of December
Halestorm – Rose in December
Vangelis – 23rd December 1787
Iced Earth – Last December
Counting Crows – Long December
Klaatu – December Dream
Sheila in NC
@maurinsky: Thomas Morley. Also “Now is the month of Maying” and Byrd’s “This sweet and merry month of May”. Five and six part polyphonic Elizabethan vocal music. This is what we did in high school before there was such a thing as show choir. Also it sure sounded like May was a favorite month in which to get laid.
Sheila in NC
And also fck fcking cancer.
MikeinArlington
29 Settembre by Lucio Battisti
It’s about a guy sitting in a coffee shop and some girl other than his girlfirend smiled at him. They ended up running around town all day and evening.
Ramalama
For me, it’s Betty Carter’s Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most.