Seasons in the Sun

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“Seasons in the Sun”
Single by Terry Jacks
B-side	"Put the Bone In"
Released	1974
Format	Single 45 RPM
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" was a worldwide hit song for Terry Jacks in 1974. It was first released in the United States and Canada early in the year, and rose to number one in America by March 2. An earlier recording appeared on The Kingston Trio's 1963 album, Time to Think. The song had also been done by English band The Fortunes in 1968, and by Pearls Before Swine in 1970/71.

The song was based on "Le moribond" (engl.: "The Dying Man"), written by Jacques Brel in 1961 and released on his fifth album titled 5. Brel's song was translated into English by poet Rod McKuen and this version was first recorded by Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio, but it did not sell. The Beach Boys also recorded the song but it was never released.^[1]

Terry Jacks, who had participated in the Beach Boys recording, and who had in fact introduced the song to the group,^[1] rewrote part of the lyrics to "lighten them up." Jacks' revisions tended to add a bit of ambiguity as to the nature of the storyteller's demise, allowing listeners the option to choose whether the death is from suicide over a failed life - quite possibly to escape drug addiction - or someone accepting death from natural causes, such as cancer. References to a cheating wife were also removed. A comparison is given below. Jacks' recording included a recurring, reverb-drenched guitar riff that many sources attribute to Link Wray.

The resulting version became an international hit and made Jacks a star, albeit considered today as a "one-hit wonder" (although he did in fact have a second Top 10 hit in the UK). It is #30 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders. According to a posting on McKuen's website ^[2] the royalties from "Seasons in the Sun" "helped pay for a new roof on my house."

In 1973, the master tape of "Seasons in the Sun" sat on a shelf in his basement for more than a year. A newspaper delivery boy heard Jacks playing it and asked if he could bring some friends by to listen to it. Their enthusiasm convinced Jacks to release 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.

It has been cited as an example of the overuse of a type of modulation known as "gear-shift", involving a change to a higher key to play on the listener's emotions.^[3][4]

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.

(i.e. he seems to be referring to closing his eyes to her infidelity. This is confirmed by the preceding verse in which he bids goodbye to his wife's lover Antoine. Alternatively, it might be a reference to prayer.)

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 ev'rywhere,

I wish that we could both be there!

[edit] Cover 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 ballad
Label	Sony BMG
Writer(s)	Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvaeus
Certification	Platinum
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
"Flying Without Wings" (3) "I Have A Dream" (4) "Fool Again" (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, Bad Religion, Too Much Joy, Black Box Recorder, Nirvana, Pearls Before Swine, Alcazar, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Westlife, 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 Westlife version has been their fourth 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!

[edit] External links

• "Seasons In The Sun" - Westlife Official Music video
• 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.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Super Seventies feature on Terry Jacks
2. ^ Rod McKuen - Flight Plan
3. ^ John Knows Best Retrieved on Jan. 24, 2008
4. ^ "Gear Changing" or unnecessary key shifts in Seasons in the Sun