September (Earth, Wind & Fire song)



"September" is a song by the American funk band Earth, Wind & Fire. It was recorded during the sessions for their album I Am (1979) and released as a single in 1978. It was included on The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1.

"September" reached number one on the US R&B chart, number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100, and number three on the UK Singles Chart.

Composition
"September" is in the key of A major with a tempo of 126 beats per minute in common time. The vocals span from E4 to F♯5.

Using a chord progression written by Earth, Wind & Fire guitarist Al McKay, Allee Willis and Maurice White wrote the song over one month. Willis was originally bothered by the gibberish "ba-dee-ya" lyric White used through the song, and begged him to rewrite it: "I just said, 'What the fuck does 'ba-dee-ya' mean?' And he 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."

Reception
The song was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry and certified gold in the US (Until the RIAA lowered the sales levels for certified singles in 1989, a Gold single equaled 1 million units sold.) "September" was later certified Gold for digital sales by the RIAA, and has sold over 2 million digital copies in the US as of September 2017. The song was also later released as "December", chord changes and melody remained identical, with lyrics re-written for the "...Twenty-fifth of December...", performed by Earth Wind & Fire, as well, on a later album.

Accolades
The information regarding accolades attributed to ''September ' is adapted from AcclaimedMusic.net. ''

(*) designates lists that are unordered.