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"September Song" was composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson for the 1938 Broadway musical Knickerbocker Holiday. The song was written specifically for Walter Huston's gruff voice and limited vocal range, reportedly in just a couple of hours, for his portrayal of the aged Governor Peter Stuyvesant.

The lyric uses the metaphor of seasons to represent stages of life, with the singer—an older man—pleading with a younger woman to spend his remaining "precious days" together. Typically performed in C major, the composition reflects Weill's European sensibility within an American popular song framework, featuring chromatic harmonic movement and a bittersweet melodic contour that set it apart from typical Tin Pan Alley fare. The song works beautifully as a reflective ballad and has attracted jazz interpretations for its harmonic depth.

Bing Crosby (1943) and Frank Sinatra (1946) helped popularize the song beyond its theatrical origins. In jazz, Sarah Vaughan's 1955 recording and Ella Fitzgerald's 1960 version with pianist Paul Smith are considered definitive vocal interpretations, bringing jazz phrasing and nuance to Weill's masterful composition.