See You in September

 “See You in September” is the name of a soupy song by Sid Wayne and Sherman Edwards. It is also the name of a movie. I’ve never seen the movie, and have no intention of ever seeing the movie, but I cannot help but wonder if the song is in the movie’s soundtrack somewhere. The song is about two young lovers who are being parted over the summer. Kind of the opposite of Grease, where the romcom is based on the summer fling, this song is all about the planned reunion come September. 

In the movie, things take a darker turn. It’s about a young woman who is afraid of commitment. She is seeing a therapist, played by Whoopie Goldberg, who is going out of town for the entire month of August. Our lead plans a group therapy, which is infiltrated by two thieves who tie everybody up and leave them. With literally nowhere else to go, everyone works through their problems. (Or that’s basically what IMDb told me. There was also a review that said this movie was as bad as Twilight. Bill just made me sit through Twilight, so I know just how bad that is. 

Anyway, back to our song. It was written between 11AM and 2PM on a Friday afternoon in 1959. By 8PM that evening, they had sold it. That Monday, it was recorded by The Tempos, and that Friday, just one week after it was written, it hit the radio waves.

Sherman Edwards, you may remember from my blog a few months back, stood up one day at his songwriting piano, announced he was leaving the Brill building and the writing of pop songs, and was going to go write a Broadway musical. 1776 was the result. 

Personally, I think this song is icky:

I'll be alone each and every night
While you're away, don't forget to write
 
Bye-bye, so long, farewell
Bye-bye, so long
 
See you in September
See you when the summer's through
Here we are (bye, baby, goodbye)
Saying goodbye at the station (bye, baby, goodbye)
Summer vacation (bye, baby   bye, baby)
Is taking you away (bye, baby, goodbye)
 
Have a good time but remember
There is danger in the summer moon above
Will I see you in September
Or lose you to a summer love
(Counting the days 'till I'll be with you)
(Counting the hours and the minutes, too)
 
Bye, baby, goodbye
Bye, baby, goodbye
Bye, baby, goodbye  (bye-bye, so long, farewell)
Bye, baby, goodbye  (bye-bye, so long)
 
Have a good time but remember
There is danger in the summer moon above
Will I see you in September
Or lose you to a summer love
(I'll be alone each and every night)
(While you're away, don't forget to write)
 
See you (bye-bye, so long, farewell)
In September (bye-bye, so long, farewell)
I'm hopin' I'll
See you (bye-bye, so long, farewell)
In September (bye-bye, so long, farewell)
Well, maybe I'll
See you (bye-bye, so long, farewell)
In September (bye-bye, so long, farewell)
​

Maybe I’ve gotten too old for teen romance songs. But I disliked this even when I was a teen. Of course, as a teen, I’d never had a romance, either during the school year or during the summer, so what did I know?

Anyway, let me know what you think of See You in September. Do you have a teen romance song that meant a great deal to you? Tell me about it in the comments below. I’ll be playing this song as well as a bunch of others on my Minnich Music Facebook page, so check them out.

Until next time!