Does Earth, Wind and Fire's "September" celebrate the last day of summer?
What does the date in the iconic song represent? Is the 21st night of September the last of summer?
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Social media feels a little funkier today as people ask, "Do you remember the 21st night of September?"
In 2019, Los Angeles even declared the date "Earth, Wind and Fire Day." But what is the significance of September 21 in the group's chart topping song?
Some, including a professor of music theory at New York University, interpret it as a reference to the last day of summer. The day before the astronomical beginning of autumn. Not a bad assumption considering that the de facto band-leader Maurice White has a strong interest in astrology at the time. In fact, the band's name came from elements of his astrological sign.
Is Sept. 21 even the last day of summer? It is this year, but was the day before the last day of summer in September 1978 when Earth, Wind and Fire were in the studio recording the song for their upcoming album "The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1"
When is the last day of summer?
The first astronomical day of Autumn falls (pun intended) nearly equality between Sept. 22 and 23. The variation comes from misalignment between the length of the calendar year and tropical year, or the time it takes for the Earth to complete a trip around the Sun.
Autumn begins tomorrow with the September equinox when the Sun is directly over the equator at 3:20 p.m. EDT. This moment in time happens about 6 hours later each year, except on leap years when that forward progress is erased and the equinox occurs 18 hours earlier.
Looking back in the eastern timezone since the switch to the Gregorian calendar in October 1582, the September equinox happens on Sept. 22 in 50.6% of the years, and Sept. 23 in 48.3% of the years.
It last fell on Sept. 24 in 1903 and 1904, because leap year was skipped in 1900 (every 4 years except years evenly divisible by 100, but not 400, complexity necessary to better align to that 365.24219 tropical year). You have to go back to the late 15th century to find a September equinox on the 21st.
If we look at the Pacific timezone where the band calls home, another 4% of those last summer evenings come on September 21st, but that's still not where the date in the song comes from.
The songwriter speaks
"There is no significance beyond it just sang better than any of the other dates."
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