The music video for Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends" tells the narrative story of a young couple deeply in love. However, the guy joins the army, upsetting the girl. The narrative cuts between their happier times together and his experiences at war. In the end, the guy is shot and killed at war. The video also shows scenes of Green Day performing the song. It uses a hybrid format of both narrative and performance elements to convey the themes of love, loss and rebellion through imagery and characters.

1. Tom Snaith- A2Media
Music Video Analysis:
Green Day – Wake me up when September ends
Wake me up when September ends is a punk rock song by the American band Green Day.
The song was released in 2005 and is over seven minutes long. The lead singer of the band;
Billy Joe Armstrong, said the song was in memory of his Father who dies when he was ten
years old. The music video features teen actors Jamie Bell and Evan Rachel Wood. The genre
of the music video is a hybrid between narrative and performance.
The narrative of the video tells the story of a young love stricken couple who couldn’t live
without each other. The beginning of the video shows a wide establishing shot of the two
sitting in a field with the title of the song to the left of them. The couple then kiss and a
close up of the two talking is shown
The videocontinuestoshowthe couple togetherathome playingvideogames,playfightingonthe
couch and actinglovinglytowardseachother.
As the nextscene comesinthe musicstopscompletely.It’slikethe musicvideobecomesamovie for
the nextminute.The girl slamsopen the porchdoorwhilstthe guyis sat ona benchoutthere.She
beginstoshoutand yell athimsaying‘how couldyou’.He’stryingto calmher downand reassure
her,but she pusheshimaway.Atfirstyou’dhave thoughthe cheatedonher or somethingalong
those linesbutthenhe says‘I didthisforyou,for us’ andthe scene changes.Asthishappensthe
musicstarts again.

2. Tom Snaith- A2Media
The scene changesto the guy steppingoutof a busat an army camp.Thenchangesagain to him
havinghisheadshavedalongwithotherrecruits.We thenunderstandwhythe couple were arguing.
The narrative continuesof the guyat war, fightinginbattle,whilstthe girl isathome endlessly
thinkingof him.
Thiscontinuesuntil the guyisshotdead.The scene changesto the girl sat lookingupintothe sky
repeatingaline saidduringthe narrative atthe beginningof the video,‘nomatterwhatyou’ll always
have someone here foryou,I’mnevergonnaleave you’.

3. Tom Snaith- A2Media
The videoiscontinuouslycuttingbetweenperformance andthis narrative.The sceneswhichdisplay
the performance partsof the videoare of the band singing.The leadsingerisbroughtforwardwith
lightsflashingintime withthe beatof the song.
The obviouscharactersin the videoare the youngand inlove couple.The bandinmyopinion
appearsinthe videoassecondarycharacters,reasonforthisbeingtheywantthe narrative to be the
mainstory forthe audience.The couple representyounglove inthe waytheyactwitheachother,
sayingandthinkingitwill be like thatforeverandthat they’re lifelongpartners.Thisisa
stereotypical representationwithyounglove.
There’sjuxtapositionbetweenthe hybridof genres.Thisbeingbecause the charactersinthe
narrative are in love andhappytogether.Whereasthe representationinthe performance andinthe
actual songisquite dull.The punrock bandrepresentsrockandrebellion.Thisisrepresented
throughwhat theywearandtheirbodylanguage throughoutthe performance side of the video.
There iscertainiconographyinthe videoinbothaspectswiththe love andpunkrock. In the
narrative the waythe two characters act witheachother andlovinglytalktoeachotheris iconicto
love.Theyrepeatedlykisseachotherandholdhands.Theylookatone anotherand it’sclearto see
they’re inlove.Whenhe joinsthe armyiconicpropsare usedto properlyrepresentthis.For
example the tanksandguns.The uniformhe wearsandthe wayhe gets hisheadshavedalongwith
othermenin the same positionashim.
Likewise the bandthemselvesare iconictothe punkrock genre.Thisisrepresentedthroughthe use
of the clothestheywearandpropstheyuse.The band are dressedinblack,coats,jeans,shoesad
tee-shirts,withblackhairwhichisgenerallyseenasa stereotypical colourwithinthisgenre of music.
Alsothe instrumentstheyuse are generallyassociatedwithapunkrockband. These being,electric
guitars,bassguitarsand drums.Thisal representsthe rebellionwhichpunkrockstandsfor.
The camera anglesinthe videovarydependingonthe scene andif it’sthe narrative orperformance
side of the video.The narrative usesquite alotof close upsof the characters facesto show the love
betweenonanother.Alsowhenthe musiccutsoutcompletely,mid shotsare usedwhichmakesthe
musicvideoseemlike aclipfroma movie.Establishingshotsare alsousedtoshow the viewerwhere
the scene isset.
Duringthe performance side the cameraangle isclose upto the leadsingersface toallow the
audience toproperlyunderstandthe wordswhenwatchingthe video.Atotherpointsduringthe
performance side of the videothe cameraissetback andshowsthe whole bandplayingthe song.