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"Seasons In The Sun"
Single by Terry Jacks
B-side(s)	Put the Bone In
Released	1974
Format	Single 45 RPM
Genre	Pop
Label	Bell Records
Writer(s)	Jacques Brel, Rod McKuen
Chart positions
#1 UK #1 USA #1 Germany
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. The song had been done by English band The Fortunes in 1968.

The song was based on a song called "Le Moribond" ("The Dying Man") by Jacques Brel. Brel's song was translated into English by poet Rod McKuen, and McKuen's English version was recorded by Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio, which did not sell. The Beach Boys also recorded the song as well. Jacks 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". According to a posting on McKuen's website [1] 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 something called the "gear-shift", the overuse of key changes in an attempt to prolong listener interest.^{[citation needed]}

Here is an English translation of the original third 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 often I know you will take care of my soul.

( he seems to be referring to closing his eyes to her infidelity)

And here is Terry Jacks' version:

"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. With the flowers ev'rywhere. I wish that we could both be there."

Swedish "dansband" Vikingarna covered the song in Swedish in 1974, as "Sommar varje dag". the song has also been covered by Spell, Bad Religion, Westlife, Too Much Joy, Black Box Recorder, Nirvana, Pearls Before Swine, Alcazar, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes 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.

Grunge rock band Nirvana cover of this song was released in Box set. In it Kurt Cobain plays the drums while singing, while Dave Grohl is in charge of the bass, and Krist Novoselic is in charge of the electric guitar.

• 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)
• "Gear Changing" or unnecessary key shifts in Seasons in the Sun
• Nirvana's Version of Seasons in the Sun at YouTube