Seasons in the Sun

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Seasons in the Sun is a song by Terry Jacks from 1974. It is based on the chanson Le Moribond (“The Dying One ”) by Belgian Jacques Brel from 1961 and Jacks' version reached number one in the charts in many countries. The play is about a dying man who sends final greetings to the people who have accompanied him on his life path.

Emergence

Lyricist Rod McKuen translated the piece into English in 1963, and the Kingston Trio initially recorded the title. The piece didn't sell very well, nor did it make the jump into the US charts. In 1968 the Fortunes recorded the song and released it in November 1968 in Great Britain, in March 1969 in the Netherlands and in June 1969 in Germany on a single that found little resonance in their home country and in Germany. In the Netherlands, however, Seasons in the Sun entered the top 40 on April 19, 1969 and reached fourth place in May as the highest ranking.

Canadian singer Terry Jacks remembered the version of the Kingston Trio. He changed parts of the last verse and adapted the music to the 1970s. Starting in Canada , the title became a hit in Jacks' version and reached number one on the charts in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , the USA , Great Britain , Norway and Belgium .

text

Jacks made the original Brel chanson much softer and sometimes more sentimental, both in text and in interpretation. In the original, the protagonist says goodbye to his best friend Émile, the local priest, his wife's lover and finally to his unfaithful wife. Jacks deleted the allusions to the woman's infidelity as he rewrote the text. The third stanza is now addressed to a "Michelle" - apparently the friend or wife of the speaker - who is believed to have had a positive influence in his life. At the same time in the English version in the second stanza, in which - unlike in the original - the protagonist speaks to his father, allusions to a possibly "botched life" were incorporated. This gives the song a moralizing tone. There are also clear differences in the chorus: While the narrator in the original, sung by Brel in a jagged manner, calls for everyone to be happy and celebrate when he comes "into the pit", the tone of Jacks' chorus is rather nostalgic and melancholic.

Cover versions

Seasons in the Sun has been covered several times, including Mamas and Papas , The Beach Boys and Pearls Before Swine . Newer versions come from Nirvana as well as from Black Box Recorder and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes . Westlife made the piece number one and a Christmas hit for the second time in 1999, along with a version of I Have a Dream .

Terry Jacks published a German version entitled In den Garten der Zeit . A German adaptation of the original by Jacques Brel is the song Adieu Emile by Klaus Hoffmann and Mach's gut by the Verena Guido Trio. The title We are young, we are free from Stein Ingersen comes from 1974 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. The Kingston Trio, If You Don't Look Around / Seasons in the Sun , entry at 45cat.com, accessed July 10, 2019
  2. The Fortunes, Seasons in the Sun , UK , listing on 45cat.com, accessed July 10, 2019
  3. ^ The Fortunes, Seasons in the Sun , Netherlands , entry at 45cat.com, accessed July 10, 2019
  4. ^ The Fortunes, Seasons in the Sun , Germany , entry at 45cat.com, accessed on July 10, 2019
  5. The Fortunes, Seasons in the Sun in the top40.nl database, accessed on July 10, 2019
  6. compare: Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Singles 1955–1993 ; Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 333
  7. Le moribond (German translation) . In: lyricstranslate.com , July 24, 2013, accessed April 9, 2019.
  8. youtube.com: Black box recorder - Seasons In The Sun
  9. youtube.com: Terry Jacks - In the Gardens of Time
  10. youtube.com: Klaus Hoffmann - Adieu Emile
  11. youtube.com: Mach's gut (Jacques Brel: Le moribond / German text V. Guido)