Do you remember…

[kewtex]

The 21st night of September?

 

[bostonman]

When I was a kid I could never understand the lyrics to the chorus (among others) of this song. I thought maybe it had somehting to do with spending September in Borneo. ("Borneo / Say, do you remember? / Borneo / Dancing in September?" etc)

[kewtex]

When I was a kid I could never understand the lyrics to the chorus (among others) of this song. I thought maybe it had somehting to do with spending September in Borneo. ("Borneo / Say, do you remember? / Borneo / Dancing in September?" etc)

 

I thought EW&F were singing, "Party on."

[BabyBoomer]

I thought EW&F were singing, "Party on."

 

It was "ba de ya dancing in September."

 

~Boomer~

[bostonman]

It was "ba de ya dancing in September."

 

~Boomer~

 

Yes.

 

But it seems to me that either "Party on" or even "Borneo" would make more sense, lol.

[+ oldNbusted]

npr.org: The Song That Never Ends: Why Earth, Wind & Fire's 'September' Sustains

 

"The, kind of, go-to phrase that Maurice used in every song he wrote was 'ba-dee-ya,' " she says. "So right from the beginning he was singing, 'Ba-dee-ya, say, do you remember / Ba-dee-ya, dancing in September.' And I said, 'We are going to change 'ba-dee-ya' to real words, right?' "

[bostonman]

And I said, 'We are going to change 'ba-dee-ya' to real words, right?' "

 

And the actual technical term for such a lyric is a "dummy lyric" - something either random or nonsensical that essentially holds the rhythm and tune together while the lyricist searches for the right words. Sometimes, as in this case, the dummy lyric never gets revised.

 

"There's four chords in the chorus that just keep moving forward and never seem to land anywhere..."

 

And the musicologist quoted is of course right. The repeated 4-chord progression under that "ba de ya" chorus is a variation on what they call a "circle of fifths" progression, which does have, for many of us, a certain irresistible, primal pull to it. Each chord is invariably "pulled" to the next one, creating a chain effect that can repeat endlessly. "I Will Survive" is another song of the period that thrives on that kind of progression - even moreso. (The whole song is built on it, as a matter of fact.)

[+ azdr0710]

Perennial anthem of my frat parties in the early 80s.

[Mo Mason]

Perennial anthem of my frat parties in the early 80s.

 

WOW, do times change.... the anthem of my frat parties was Nelly's Hot in Here... "It's gettin' hot in here, so take off all your clothes (I am gettin' so hot, I'm gonna take my clothes off)"... what a difference 20 years makes.

[Mo Mason]

I was born in 1980, and I don't talk much with people who were in school back then. azdr0710 (and others).. what other songs were really popular for high school/college aged guys back in the early 80's?

 

I can't really think of much that may have been, except for Queen and Blondie.