Redtree Times

A Song For the Eye— At West End Gallery

For summer there, bear in mind, is a loitering gossip, that only begins to talk of leaving when September rises to go.

–George Washington Cable, The Grandissimes: A Story of Creole Life (1880)

Ah, September is here, at last.

I have expressed my dislike of August here a number of times over the years. There has often been a grimness in its heat and humidity that always seemed to align itself with some of the lower moments in my life. I dread the month each year but made a conscious effort this year to not mention my distaste for August as it seemed to proceed in a way that was not too awful.

It actually felt a little, how do I say this–good? Well, better than most of the Augusts that I have endured in the 60-some years I can remember on this planet.

Good feels odd coming out of my mouth.

However, even with a relatively upbeat August, it feels better moving into September. There is a cool mist in the air this morning that foretells even cooler mornings to come. Maple leaves are beginning to show a slight change of color and a few leaves have fallen to the ground already.

My internal clock seems to slow a bit with the coming of September. I don’t feel quite so pushed or anxious. Oh, the angst is still there but it moves a bit slower and is a little less aggressive. More manageable.

It has become a tradition here that on each year on this first day of September that I play a very favorite song of mine, September Song. It’s a classic from the American songbook, written in the late 1930’s by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson for the Broadway musical, Knickerbocker Holiday. It has been recorded by scores of singers over the past century. I have shared performances of it by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Willie Nelson and several others on this date on this blog. I have never shared the Frank Sinatra version for some unknown reason. It just seemed to get pushed a side since I am such a fan of the versions from the three mentioned above. But Sinatra’s version is a great one as well. It comes from 1965 when he was about 50 years, just entering the autumn of his life much like the subject of the song, (which was Peter Stuyvesant,  by the way.) Sinatra was at his creative peak when he recorded this which makes for a great version.

So, for the first Sunday Morning Music of this September, here’s Sinatra and his rendition of September Song.