The competition for my favorite version of September, which I co-wrote for Earth Wind & Fire, not to mention the dozens of other songs of mine whose copyrights are infringed upon daily on YouTube, is fierce. But this junior high school performance rises to the top – the choreography, harmonies, costumes, cheap and glorious sound and grand finale swirling together to make the perfect Kitsch kocktail. Anyone who knows me knows I’ve seen very few of the original artists who’ve recorded my songs in concert yet I’ll drive hundreds of miles to hear someone doing them in some unrecognizable lifeform way. I only wish I could have been at this school for this performance!
A personal shoutout to YouTube who, despite making me take down videos of my own songs which I co-own the copyright to, allows proliferation of hundreds of versions of these songs without demanding those infringers take their videos down – i.e. they protect the record companies and big corps and screw the creators. Although this double standard shows a distinct lack of ethical or moral conscience, were YouTube not turning a blind eye to satisfy their business model I wouldn’t have the pleasure of experiencing my songs as I love to hear them most – destroyed.
GoingLikeSixty
My ears are bleeding. But your spin is so generous and perfectly odd.
I’m so confused. 🙂
Ludovicah
Aww That was a lot of fun. Quite a challenging number for a random bunch of kids to take on. The outfits must have cost a fortune. Bless their little cotton socks 🙂
windupkitty
wow do i ever agree with everything you said about youtube…and yeah, how cool to see your song performed this way…i agree, if it were me, i’d travel far and wide to find performances of my material that are not, by the mainstream standards, worth traveling for….that choreography was timeless though….
Deli
What a delicious blessing (!!!) to write a song like this – which after all these years, is STILL the gift that keeps on giving! PURE JOY!!!
I would never want to have lunch with anyone who can sit through ANY performance of September and not in some way shape or form, move some (if not every) part of their body while listening to the music and lyrics.
Ms. Willis, you are a national treasure. And I love all your eyeglasses.