Try to Remember

The song invites the listener to remember a gentle, youthful time, pictured as September, when life seemed slow, tender, and full of promise. As the seasons move toward December, the mood becomes more reflective: winter brings cold and perhaps sadness, but memories of warmth can still comfort us. The repeated call to “follow” suggests carrying that warmth forward, though the song does not say exactly where it leads.

Several images connect feelings with nature. Green grass and yellow grain suggest abundance and a peaceful season. “No one wept except the willow” is a poetic way to say that life felt so happy or safe that sorrow seemed absent; the tree appears to weep because its branches droop. Love as “an ember about to billow” suggests a small spark that may grow into a strong flame. The contrast between December’s snow and September’s fire makes memory feel like warmth in a cold time.

The song may be about childhood, an early love, or simply a past period that now seems brighter than the present. “Without a hurt, the heart is hollow” can mean that pain is part of a full emotional life, not that suffering is desirable. The remembered September may be idealized, yet the song treats remembering it as a way to meet winter with hope.