Seasons In The Sun by Terry Jacks

Seasons In The Sun

1973

Terry Jacks

Seasons In The Sun’, by Terry Jacks, is another hit that everyone who was a teen during the Seventies remembers and very few of those who were around back then had a neutral opinion of it...and that same opinion divide exists to this day. The song was either a deep, soulful, and insightful goodbye from a dying man to his loved ones, or the worst drek ever to hit the pop charts, depending on who you talked to (And sometimes on their mood at the time you talked to them.). Someone  must’ve liked it though…it made it to #1 on the Hot 100, and sold around 14M copies world-wide.

In some ways (And this is one of those 'IMHO' type deals) it was a bit of a contradiction. The song, and especially the chorus, had one of the most upbeat rhythms and melodies of any Pop song during the decade, which contrasted big-time with the rather maudlin, and dark subject matter. The beat makes you just want to sing along with it, then you realize that you're singing about the protagonist's impending death.

And speaking of the song's kinda depressing theme, contrary to one of the popular rumors of the times, Seasons In The Sun was not Terry Jacks telling his own family goodbye (I actually remember someone telling me that ‘And after he finished recording it he just sat in the studio and sobbed…’)  Didn’t happen, gang. In fact as I write this Terry Jacks is alive, kickin’, and very involved with the Environmental movement.  ‘Seasons In The Sun was actually an English language cover of a ’61 song called ‘Le Moribond’  by Belgian poet-composer Jacques Brel, who performed it in French.  Now here’s the kicker…Jaques Brel retired from the music scene just before Seasons In The Sun was released, giving no reason for his sudden retirement. Brel was an extremely popular artist in Europe, and was at the pinnacle of his popularity, so his fans were, understandably, stunned.  Brel never explained the reason for his sudden retirement from the Music Scene, but the reason was made clear six years later when he succumbed to the cancer he’d been battling since shortly before his retirement. SO, while neither Terry Jacks or Jaques Brel wrote it from personal experience, it was an unintentional foreshadowing of Brel’s fate.

Terry Jacks wasn’t even the first artist to cover it, by the way…The Kingston Trio beat him to it by about eleven years. It was also covered by the British band The Fortunes in ’68, making Terry Jacks the third artist to cover it...but he almost wasn’t the third artist to cover it. Season’s In The Sun was almost (Are ya ready for this???) a Beach Boys song. Somehow I can’t quite picture the Kings of Upbeat Summer Pop singing ‘Seasons In The Sun', and apparently neither could they, because they never finished recording it. Terry Jacks was actually producing the Beach Boys version, and when they abandoned it, Jacks snatched it up and recorded it on his own label (Goldfish Records). He excised a couple of verses that spoke of the protagonist’s wife’s infidelity from the original version, then added one of his own…the verse that begins “Goodbye Michele My Little One…’ was an ode to his young niece Michele, who died on Martha’s Vineyard.  

He released his version in December 1973, and it shot up the charts, making it to #1 on The Billboard Hot 100 on March 2^nd, 74…it’d sit there for three weeks.

This was another song that’s been well covered over the years, and was even ultimately covered by The Beach Boys, though their version didn’t chart. A version by Bobby Wright made it to the top 40 of The Billboard Hot Country Singles in 1974, and it’s been covered by artists as diverse as Andy Williams and Blink 182.  Westlife went Platinum in The U.K. with their cover of it in 1999, but possibly the most controversial cover of ‘em all was the version by Nirvana. Seasons In The Sun was the first single ever bought by a kid named Kurt Cobain, who often referenced it in interviews, telling the interviewer that the song made him cry as a child. Kurt. of course, committed suicide in April of 1994 , and many Nirvana fans to this day question whether the song somehow helped influence his decision to take his own life. Their cover of it was informal, and never intended for release, but ended up being included in the DVD portion of their 2004 boxed set ‘With The Lights Out’.

And today? 'Season's In The Sun's still heard pretty regularly on the Oldies Stations, and will likely be for decades to come...it was one if the true classics of The Seventies.  And all of us Seventies kid'll probably sing right along with it when we hear it.

So Enjoy! Season's In The Sun, by Terry Jacks