Seasons in the Sun

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"Seasons in the Sun"
Single by Terry Jacks
B-side	"Put the Bone In"
Released	January 1974
Format	7"
Recorded	1973
Genre	Pop, Teenage Tragedy
Length	3:24
Label	Bell Records
Writer(s)	Jacques Brel, Rod McKuen
Terry Jacks singles chronology
"Seasons in the Sun" (1974) "If You Go Away" (1974)

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"Seasons in the Sun" is an English-language adaptation of the song "Le Moribond" by Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel ^[1]. It became a worldwide hit in 1974 for Terry Jacks and became a Christmas Number 1 in 1999 for Westlife.

The song is a dying protagonist's farewell to relatives and friends. The original French-language song included references to his wife's infidelity - but these are often missing from the English-language adaptation. Jacks's recording was released in the United States and Canada early in the year, and rose to number one in America by March 2. Earlier recordings had been released by The Kingston Trio, the British band The Fortunes in 1968 and by Pearls Before Swine in 1970/71.

[edit] History

The song was recorded in Vancouver, BC by Jacks and his wife at the time, Susan Jacks (the Poppy Family), shortly before their marriage ended. When the Beach Boys decided not to finish recording it, Terry and Susan made the decision to record it themselves and release it under Terry's name. The distinctive twangy guitar riff has frequently been attributed to Link Wray, however Wray himself always denied playing on the recording. Jacks released it on his own label and it soon topped the record charts in the U.S. (where it was released on Bell Records), Canada and the UK and sold over six million copies worldwide.

[edit] In popular culture

• In the Season 2 finale of the Gilmore Girls, Sookie lists it as one of the songs that she would like to walk down the aisle to, describing it as "a sentimental favorite".
• In an episode of Rugrats where the Pickles family is having a garage sale, "Seasons In The Sun" is one of the records mentioned.
• In the MTV show Sifl and Olly, the character Chester breaks into an impromptu version of Seasons in the Sun before slowly fainting.
• It has also been featured in the episode of "Millennium" entitled "Goodbye, Charlie."

[edit] Version comparison

This is an English translation of the original final verse by Jacques Brel:

Good-bye, my wife, I loved you well

Good-bye, my wife, I loved you well, you know,

But I'm taking the train for the Good Lord,

I'm taking the train before yours

But you take whatever train you can;

Goodbye, my wife, I'm going to die,

It's hard to die in springtime, you know,

But I'm leaving for the flowers with my eyes closed, my wife,

Because I closed them so often,

I know you will take care of my soul.

("eyes closed" refers to closing his eyes to her infidelity, following on from the preceding verse in which he bids goodbye to his wife's lover Antoine).

Terry Jacks omits the original third and fourth verses and adds this verse, which could refer to either a daughter or a young girlfriend:

Goodbye, Michelle, my little one,

You gave me love and helped me find the sun,

And every time that I was down

You would always come around

And get my feet back on the ground;

Goodbye, Michelle, it's hard to die

When all the birds are singing in the sky,

Now that the spring is in the air,

Whiff of flowers everywhere,

I wish that we could both be there!

[edit] Other versions

"I Have a Dream"/"Seasons in the Sun"
Single by Westlife
from the album Westlife
Released	December 6, 1999
Format	CD Single
Genre	Pop
Label	Sony BMG
Writer(s)	Brel, McKuehn
Certification	Platinum (United Kingdom)
Westlife singles chronology
"Flying Without Wings" (1999) (3) "I Have a Dream" / "Seasons in the Sun" (1999) (4) "Fool Again" (2000) (5)
Westlife track listing "Moments" (9) "Seasons in the Sun" (10) "I Need You" (11)

Apart from the versions noted above, there have been numerous cover versions of the song. Swedish dansband Vikingarna covered the song in Swedish in 1974, as "Sommar varje dag". the song has also been covered by Spell, The Beach Boys, Bad Religion, Too Much Joy, Black Box Recorder, Nirvana, Indochine (band), Pearls Before Swine, Alcazar, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Westlife, Second Run, Television Personalities and Gob featuring Blink 182. In 2006, fictional boyband BoyTown recorded the song for the film of the same title. It featured at the end of the film, with all five members singing it to their loved ones through a dream-like cloud motif.

The Kingston Trio version omits the third and fourth verses of the original version and adds this verse:

Adieu, Francoise, my trusted wife, without you I'd have had a lonely life.

You cheated lots of times but then, I forgave you in the end though your lover was my friend.

Adieu, Francoise, it's hard to die when all the birds are singing in the sky. Now that spring is in the air

With your lovers ev'rywhere; just be careful, I'll be there.

The Westlife version has been their fourth limited edition single from their self-titled debut album Westlife and included on A-side together with "I Have A Dream" which became their first remake #1 on Christmas 1999 and continued reigning up to first week of year 2000.

The cover Nirvana did featured complete mix-up of the members, with Kurt Cobain on drums and vocals, Dave Grohl on bass and Krist Novoselic on guitar.

Another cover version, by Bobby Wright (son of Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells), reached the Top 40 of the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart in 1974.

The earliest single recording may well have been the Manchester based Coachmen's version recorded At EMI's Abbey Road Studios in July 1966 and released on Columbia DB8057 in November 1966.

The song was used by Shabba Ranks and Crystal in their big reggae hit "Twice My Age", with the words in the chorus (sung by Crystal) changed to:

I'm in love with a man, nearly twice my age,

Don't know what it is, but its a hit from me youthful days,

As I go my way, I don't care what people say,

I'm in love with a man, nearly twice my age!

Contrary to some reports and assumptions, American born singer Scott Walker did not cover the song, despite being a prolific singer of translated Jacques Brel songs in his early solo career.

Spanish versions (entitled 'Epocas de Sol or Etapas de mi Vida) Many versions were released by Grupo Montéz de Durango, Lalo Rodarte, Grupo Topazz, Jorge Duarte, amongst others.

There is a German version called Adieu Emile by Klaus Hoffmann published in 1975. The translated lyrics are very close to the French ones but the melody is slightly altered and the whole song has a 3/4 beat.^[2]

Italian singer/songwriter Roberto Vecchioni recorded an Italian version called "Stagioni nel sole" for his 2005 acoustic, jazz-influenced live album Il Contastorie. The title of his version is a literal translation of "Seasons in the Sun", but both the lyrics (rewritten by Vecchioni himself) and the musical structure of Vecchioni's version are much closer to Jacques Brel's original (including a vague allusion to the protagonist's wife being unfaithful) than to the Jacks/McKuen version. The accompaniment of this rendition, played on acoustic guitar, piano and double bass (with no drums) is march-like, similar to Brel's, and pointedly un-romantic.

The band Beirut have covered "Le Moribond" live on a number of occasions. A version performed for KEXP was recorded along with "My Family's Role in the World Revolution" for the third track on the Elephant Gun EP. Beirut perform a cover that is quite faithful to the original Jacques Brel version, maintaining the French lyrics and the marching up-beat tempo.

The Finnish schlager singer Arto Sotavalta have recorded a Finnish version of the song called Päivät kuin unta (Eng. Days like dreams). The Finnish translation is very similar to the English text.

The Vietnamese version, called "Nhung ngay nang dep" (Beautiful sunny days) was translated by musician Pham Duy. The translated lyrics are quite similar to the English one. A number of overseas Vietnamese singers have covered this version.

[edit] External links

• Seasons in the Sun at Super Seventies.
• "Goodbye, Papa, It's Hard to Die: The enduring appeal of an abominable pop song" (Slate.com, March 16, 2005)
• comments by Rod McKuen on the song's origins.
• Brel sings Le Moribond.
• "Seasons In The Sun" - Westlife Official Music video

[edit] References