Greetings, it’s September! An exciting month not to be slept through! Despite that, the meme endures. In 2004, Green Day introduced the poignant ballad “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” which rose to become a top-10 pop hit and evolved into an annual meme tradition. Now, we can listen to the inception of that iconic song.
This year marks the 30th and 20th anniversaries of Green Day’s two most prominent albums, ushering in a wave of commemorative activities for both records. During their ongoing stadium tour, Green Day is performing both Dookie and American Idiot in their entirety. Having already unveiled the 30th-anniversary reissue of Dookie, they are set to launch the expanded edition of American Idiot next month. Presently, they have shared three bonus tracks from the reissue, notably including their demo rendition of “Wake Me Up When September Ends.”
The demo of “Wake Me Up When September Ends” doesn’t bring significant surprises, as it has always been an acoustic ballad. Nevertheless, exploring rawer versions of the band’s polished tracks is always a delight. In addition to this demo, Green Day has also released the previously unearthed “American Idiot” B-side “Governator,” featuring Mike Dirnt on lead vocals and drawing inspiration from an evidently unavoidable theme. Furthermore, they offer their VH1 Storytellers rendition of “St. Jimmy.” Enjoy all three tracks below.
The American Idiot 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will be available on 10/25 via Warner. Additionally, Billie Joe Armstrong’s long-standing side project, Pinhead Gunpowder, has recently announced the upcoming album Unt.
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