"Wake Me Up When September Ends" was written by Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong about his father, who died of cancer in September 1982 when Billie Joe was ten.
The song's music video depicts a couple broken apart by the Iraq War, which was intended to convey the song's central theme of loss.
In the United States, the song became symbolic after Hurricane Katrina, where it was dedicated to victims of the disaster and also regarded as a dedication to the victims of the September 11 attacks that occurred in 2001.
The song's music video was directed by Samuel Bayer, best known for his work with Nirvana and Metallica.
The song became a hit single, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100.