“September” by James Arthur

Actually, the month of September is only mentioned once in this entire song, at the very beginning. And the significance it holds is that such was around the time on the calendar that the singer met the addressee. 

This transpired some time ago, with Arthur then dedicating a solid year to pursuing the apple of his eye, that of course being the aforementioned addressee. And ultimately his pursuits have paid off, thus this love song.

Narrator’s Sweetheart

And as with what we traditionally consider to be a love song, most of the lyrics are dedicated to the vocalist appreciating his sweetheart. All of such assertions are not made directly. 

For example, he lets it be known in the chorus that she has a tendency to smile even when he’s genuinely vexed. And her doing so vexes him even further. But the implication is that underneath such emotional conflicts, he still appreciates her character. That is why he is able to conclude the passage by putting forth that even now, after being with her for some time, his romantic feelings have “never faded”. 

Moreover he considers the two of them as spouses, i.e. the addressee being the woman who he’s “going to love for the rest of (his) life”.

Another interesting, or let’s say unique aspect of this song is when the singer reveals that part of the reason he fell in love with the addressee was due to being impressed by her mother’s “Irish charm”. And for the record James Arthur is English, not Irish. 

The Irish Charm

So perhaps he is referring to someone in particular, though it doesn’t appear that his most-recent girlfriend, Jessica Grist, is Irish either. So maybe we can more reasonably postulate that he’s giving a shoutout to Irish women and by extension the Irish people in general.

What “September” is all about

And conclusively, “September” is what we would define as more like a realistic love song. It isn’t all chocolate and roses, as the vocalist is able to reveal that at times he feels stressed out or pissed off. But at least, thankfully, he can rejoice in possessing the type of partner whose presence and love is able to remind him that in reality he’s blessed, having someone like her in his life.

Release Date of “September”

As of the release of this track on 11 June 2021, according to James Arthur’s discography as delineated by a number of sources, “September” is the second single from his fourth album. And the name of said undertaking is “It’ll All Make Sense in the End”.

Its first single, “Medicine“, came out a few months prior, and it proved to be a moderate success, making a somewhat humble appearance on the UK Singles Chart.

James Arthur

In fact truth be told, James Arthur’s musical career has seen better days. That’s not an insult considering that the earlier days we’re referring to were the early-to-mid 2010s, when Arthur scored a couple of major multi-platinum hits, those being “Impossible” (2012) and “Say You Won’t Let Go” (2016). 

But regardless he has retained an A list status throughout the decade, especially in his homeland of the United Kingdom, where his second album, “Back from the Edge” (2016), topped the UK Albums Chart. And the other two, “James Arthur” (2013) and “You” (2019), fell just a spot short of accomplishing the same.

Arthur’s enduring popularity across the pond is at least partially due to the fact that his fame is by and large the product of reality TV success. That is to say that in 2012 he emerged victorious from the ninth season of The X Factor, which is like the British equivalent to American Idol or The Voice.

Arthur turned 33 years old in March of 2021. And his professional singing history dates back to 2011.

More about “September”

James Arthur has implied that his original goal was to actually release this track “around September”, as doing so “would have been a lot more promotional opportunity”. But after teasing it on TikTok and receiving an encouraging reaction, he decided to issue it as detailed above. 

And the label that supported its release (i.e. being behind the aforementioned album) is Columbia Records, whom Arthur signed with in 2015.

Arthur wrote this song with Wayne Hector, George Tizzard and Rick Parkhouse. And it is also Parkhouse and Tizzard, who as a pair are known as Red Triangle, that produced the track.