This is the original song that the annoying English language cover "Seasons of the Sun" by Terry Jacks was based on. Same melody, with a loose translation. Brel's song has much more heart and melancholy without the irritating key changes.
[ - ] HughBriss [op] 1 point 2.7 yearsAug 22, 2021 15:57:47 ago (+1/-0)
Are you familiar with Scott Walker? He made his career largely in the UK, so he's not well known in the US. One of my favorites of his is "Scott Walker Sings Jacques Brel" a compilation album of songs he recorded between 1967 and 1969.
[ - ] COF 1 point 2.7 yearsAug 22, 2021 18:34:00 ago (+1/-0)
Glad you posted this. I wrote a history snippet about Jacks version a couple of years ago:
Originally "Le Moribond" ("The Dying Man"), this was written and performed in French by the Belgian poet-composer Jacques Brel in 1961. The American poet Rod McKuen translated the lyrics to English, and in 1964 The Kingston Trio released the first English-language version of the song. This is the version Terry Jacks heard, which became the basis for his rendition. Rod McKuen, who translated the lyrics, is the credited writer on the song along with Jacques Brel. Terry Jacks made some significant musical changes and wrote an entirely different last verse, but didn't get a songwriter credit, since he never claimed one. Jacks says he didn't think of it at the time, and never anticipated the song becoming a royalty-generating hit.
In a Songfacts interview with Terry Jacks, he said that after his version was released, he had dinner in Brussels with Jacques Brel, who told him about writing the song. "It was about an old man who was dying of a broken heart because his best friend was screwing his wife," Jacks said. "He wrote this in a whorehouse in Tangiers, and the words were quite different. The song originally he used to do on stage and it was in a march form, like, 'Bom ba DUM, bom ba DUM.' Quite a different thing. This old man was dying of a broken heart and he was saying goodbye to his priest and his best friend and his wife, who cheated on him. Her name was Francoise, and it went, 'Adieu, Francoise, my trusted wife, without you I'd have had a lonely life. You cheated lots of times but then I forgave you in the end, though your lover was my friend.'"
The original version by Jacques Brel is rather macabre, but Jacks had an earnest inspiration for his reworking of the song: his good friend developed leukemia, and was given just six months to live. "He was gone in four months," Jacks told us. "He was a very good friend of mine, one of my best friends, and he said I was the first one that he told. I remembered this song of an old man dying of a broken heart, and I liked some of the melody and there was something there. I rewrote the song about him."
Before releasing this song, Terry Jacks had considerable success in his native Canada as half of the duo The Poppy Family with his wife, Susan. He was friends with The Beach Boys, who asked him to produce a song for them - something Jacks was honored to do. Terry played them his arrangement of "Seasons in the Sun" and suggested they record it, since he thought it would sound great with their harmonies and with Carl Wilson singing lead.
Terry flew to Brian Wilson's house and they began working on the song. Wilson had always been their producer, and could spend months working on a song if he wanted to perfect it. These were Terry's sessions, but Brian tried to take over.
"The thing never got finished," Jacks said in our interview. "Brian wanted to get hold of the tape and add some things, and the engineer would have to take the tape home at night so that Brian wouldn't get hold of it. This went on and on, and I was almost having a nervous breakdown because I would put so much energy into this thing and the stress was really getting me. So I said, 'I'm not going to be able to finish this. I can't get you guys all in here together.' So it never got completed."
The sessions weren't a complete wash for Jacks, however. He worked with Al Jardine on the backing vocals and came up with an arrangement he would use when he recorded the song himself.
Shortly before Terry's recording came out, Jacques Brel retired, at the peak of his popularity. Fans around the world were stunned, but the composer would give no reason. Finally, the truth was revealed: after a quiet, six-year battle against cancer, Brel succumbed to the disease and died on October 9, 1978. With the money he made from this song, Jacks purchased a boat, which he christened "Seasons in the Sun." He began sailing up and down the west coast of Alaska and Canada, and had some revelations along the way. "I started to realize that this wasn't made by a blob," he told us. "This was made by God."
Terry became a Christian and began a quest to protect nature. He gave up music and became an environmental activist, fighting the Canadian paper mills, which he accused of dumping toxins and destroying forests.
[ - ] HughBriss [op] 1 point 2.7 yearsAug 22, 2021 19:12:59 ago (+1/-0)
Man, that was fascinating. It's long, but I read it all. I remember hearing "Seasons in the Sun" on the radio in the 70s and because it was a top 10 hit, the DJs played it constantly. I got really sick of it, but I liked the earnest and sincere message in they lyrics. I got really tired of the chorus and the key changes annoyed me, but it's still a good song. I can absolutely see Jacks' frustration in working with Brian Wilson in the early 70s. At the time, Wilson was a perfectionist and had a hard time letting anything go. It's why he didn't finish his "Smile" project until more than 30 years later.
Yes, "macabre" is a good way to describe Brel's lyrics. I think Rod McKuen did them an injustice when he translated them, but he rendered them in a way that would be palatable for an American and Canadian audience, so I won't judge him harshly.
In the US, Jacks was a one-hit wonder, and I'm glad it worked out for him. I'm also glad he found the Lord in the process. He seems to be a good and decent man.
[ + ] zongongo
[ - ] zongongo 2 points 2.7 yearsAug 22, 2021 15:32:10 ago (+2/-0)
👍🏻
[ + ] HughBriss
[ - ] HughBriss [op] 1 point 2.7 yearsAug 22, 2021 15:57:47 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] COF
[ - ] COF 1 point 2.7 yearsAug 22, 2021 18:34:00 ago (+1/-0)
Originally "Le Moribond" ("The Dying Man"), this was written and performed in French by the Belgian poet-composer Jacques Brel in 1961. The American poet Rod McKuen translated the lyrics to English, and in 1964 The Kingston Trio released the first English-language version of the song. This is the version Terry Jacks heard, which became the basis for his rendition. Rod McKuen, who translated the lyrics, is the credited writer on the song along with Jacques Brel. Terry Jacks made some significant musical changes and wrote an entirely different last verse, but didn't get a songwriter credit, since he never claimed one. Jacks says he didn't think of it at the time, and never anticipated the song becoming a royalty-generating hit.
In a Songfacts interview with Terry Jacks, he said that after his version was released, he had dinner in Brussels with Jacques Brel, who told him about writing the song. "It was about an old man who was dying of a broken heart because his best friend was screwing his wife," Jacks said. "He wrote this in a whorehouse in Tangiers, and the words were quite different. The song originally he used to do on stage and it was in a march form, like, 'Bom ba DUM, bom ba DUM.' Quite a different thing. This old man was dying of a broken heart and he was saying goodbye to his priest and his best friend and his wife, who cheated on him. Her name was Francoise, and it went, 'Adieu, Francoise, my trusted wife, without you I'd have had a lonely life. You cheated lots of times but then I forgave you in the end, though your lover was my friend.'"
The original version by Jacques Brel is rather macabre, but Jacks had an earnest inspiration for his reworking of the song: his good friend developed leukemia, and was given just six months to live. "He was gone in four months," Jacks told us. "He was a very good friend of mine, one of my best friends, and he said I was the first one that he told. I remembered this song of an old man dying of a broken heart, and I liked some of the melody and there was something there. I rewrote the song about him."
Before releasing this song, Terry Jacks had considerable success in his native Canada as half of the duo The Poppy Family with his wife, Susan. He was friends with The Beach Boys, who asked him to produce a song for them - something Jacks was honored to do. Terry played them his arrangement of "Seasons in the Sun" and suggested they record it, since he thought it would sound great with their harmonies and with Carl Wilson singing lead.
Terry flew to Brian Wilson's house and they began working on the song. Wilson had always been their producer, and could spend months working on a song if he wanted to perfect it. These were Terry's sessions, but Brian tried to take over.
"The thing never got finished," Jacks said in our interview. "Brian wanted to get hold of the tape and add some things, and the engineer would have to take the tape home at night so that Brian wouldn't get hold of it. This went on and on, and I was almost having a nervous breakdown because I would put so much energy into this thing and the stress was really getting me. So I said, 'I'm not going to be able to finish this. I can't get you guys all in here together.' So it never got completed."
The sessions weren't a complete wash for Jacks, however. He worked with Al Jardine on the backing vocals and came up with an arrangement he would use when he recorded the song himself.
Shortly before Terry's recording came out, Jacques Brel retired, at the peak of his popularity. Fans around the world were stunned, but the composer would give no reason. Finally, the truth was revealed: after a quiet, six-year battle against cancer, Brel succumbed to the disease and died on October 9, 1978.
With the money he made from this song, Jacks purchased a boat, which he christened "Seasons in the Sun." He began sailing up and down the west coast of Alaska and Canada, and had some revelations along the way. "I started to realize that this wasn't made by a blob," he told us. "This was made by God."
Terry became a Christian and began a quest to protect nature. He gave up music and became an environmental activist, fighting the Canadian paper mills, which he accused of dumping toxins and destroying forests.
[ + ] HughBriss
[ - ] HughBriss [op] 1 point 2.7 yearsAug 22, 2021 19:12:59 ago (+1/-0)
Yes, "macabre" is a good way to describe Brel's lyrics. I think Rod McKuen did them an injustice when he translated them, but he rendered them in a way that would be palatable for an American and Canadian audience, so I won't judge him harshly.
In the US, Jacks was a one-hit wonder, and I'm glad it worked out for him. I'm also glad he found the Lord in the process. He seems to be a good and decent man.