Seasons in the Sun

The first version of the song was recorded by Brel, who reportedly wrote it in a brothel in Tangiers. Sung in a marching tempo, it tells of a man dying of a broken heart and shows him saying his last farewells first to his close friend Emile, then to a priest, next to an acquaintance named Antoine, and finally to his wife, who has cheated on him numerous times with Antoine. Despite knowing of Antoine being his wife's lover, he wishes no ill upon him but tells him to take care of his wife. American Rod McKuen translated the lyrics into English. In 1964, the Kingston Trio first recorded an English version of "Seasons in the Sun", which was later heard by Terry Jacks and became the basis for his rendition.

Jacks rewrote the lyrics, although he is uncredited for it. He deemed the original version and its translations as "too macabre". The inspiration for the rewritten lyrics was his close friend Roger, who was suffering from acute leukemia and died four months later. The Terry Jacks rendition, which was later dedicated to the friend, has the dying man giving his last words to his loved ones with whom he shared his life, much like the original. However, unlike the Brel version, the man does not die broken-hearted but instead, acknowledges the rights and wrongs of his actions in life as he passes away peacefully.

In the rewritten version, the man first addresses a close friend whom he had known since childhood and reminisces about the happy times they had, such as playing and studying together ("climbed hills and trees", "learned of love and ABC's") and friendships with others ("skinned our hearts and skinned our knees"). He then addresses his father, who tried to give him a good upbringing and exert a positive influence on his undisciplined life ("I was the black sheep of the family", "You tried to teach me right from wrong", "wonder how I got along") which included overindulgence, vices, and revelry ("too much wine and too much song"). The man finally addresses a "Michelle", recounting how she had lifted his spirit up in times of despair. At the end of each verse, the man reminds all three that he is always present in spirit when they visit places or see people.[4]

According to Jacks, the Beach Boys asked him to be their producer during the sessions for the band's album Surf's Up. On July 31, 1970, they attempted a rendition of the "Seasons in the Sun", but the session went badly, and the track was never finished. Afterwards, Mike Love told an interviewer: "We did record a version [of 'Seasons'] but it was so wimpy we had to throw it out. ... It was just the wrong song for us."[5] The recording remained unreleased until the 2021 compilation Feel Flows.[6]

Jacks recorded his rendition in Vancouver in 1973. The piano arpeggio parts and double bass parts in the second verse were done by a young David Foster.[7]

Jacks released his version as a single in 1973 on his own label, Goldfish Records. "Put the Bone In", an original composition about burying a deceased pet dog, was included as the B-side. The single soon topped the record charts in the US (where it was released on Bell Records), in Canada, and the UK,[8] selling over 14 million copies worldwide.[9]

Jacks's version was released in the United States in December 1973 and made the Billboard Hot 100 a month later. On March 2, 1974, the song began a three-week run at number one atop the Hot 100 and remained in the top 40 until almost Memorial Day weekend. Jacks's version also spent one week on the Easy Listening charts.[10] Billboard ranked it as the number two song for 1974.[11] Although he released several other singles that were moderately successful in Canada, "Seasons in the Sun" would become Jacks's only major solo hit in the United States.[12] In Canada, the single (Gold Fish GF 100) reached number one on the RPM magazine charts January 26, 1974, and remained there four weeks.

Though the song enjoyed contemporary success, some modern critics take a dimmer view, considering it overly sentimentalized. Jacks's version has been held up as an example of bad music, such as having been listed as one of the worst pop songs ever recorded and ranking number five in a similar CNN poll in 2006.[13]

Jacks also released a German-language version in Germany with lyrics by Gerd Müller-Schwanke, "In den Gärten der Zeit".[14]

Irish boy band Westlife released a cover of "Seasons in the Sun" in December 1999, as a double A-side with "I Have a Dream" and as a triple A-side in Australia with both "I Have a Dream" and "Flying Without Wings" included.[51] The release became the UK's Christmas number-one single of 1999, beating Cliff Richard's charity single "The Millennium Prayer" into the No. 2 spot, and also became the group's fourth UK number-one single. It then extended its peak into January 2000, spending a total of 17 weeks on the UK chart.[52] The song was the 26th best-selling single of 1999 in the UK and it was also the final number one single of the 1990s.

• The first recording of the English-language version (lyrics by McKuen) was released on the 1963 album Time to Think by the Kingston Trio.[63]
• The Fortunes released this as a single in the UK April 1969. United Artists 25885. Recorded 1968, produced by Mike D'Abo.
• The Beach Boys recorded a version of the song in 1971. It would remain unreleased until the 2021 box set Feel Flows was released.
• A cover version by Bobby Wright reached No. 24 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1974.[64]
• A cover version by Too Much Joy appears on their 1988 album Son of Sam I Am.
• Nirvana recorded a version in 1993, which is the final recording on the With the Lights Out box set.[65]
• Me First and the Gimme Gimmes recorded their version in 1997, featured on their album Have a Ball.[66]
• Black Box Recorder recorded a version in 1998, which appears on the US version of their album England Made Me.[67]

• List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States

• Seasons in the Sun at Super Seventies.
• "List of 'Le Moribond' covers", Brelitude.net
• "Goodbye, Papa, It's Hard to Die: The enduring appeal of an abominable pop song" (Slate.com, March 16, 2005)