"Seasons in the Sun" is an English-language adaptation of the 1961 song "Le Moribond" by Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel with lyrics rewritten in 1963 by American singer-poet Rod McKuen, portraying a dying man's farewell to his loved ones. It became a worldwide hit in 1974 for Canadian singer Terry Jacks and became a Christmas number one in the UK in 1999 for Westlife.
Terry Jacks recording
Terry Jacks recorded "Seasons in the Sun" in Vancouver in 1973 with his then-wife Susan Jacks. They made the decision to record the song when The Beach Boys, who had recorded a version with Terry Jacks producing, decided to abandon their recording. 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 U.S., in Canada, and the UK, selling over 14 million copies worldwide. Jacks's version was released in the United States in December 1973, and made the BillboardHot 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. Billboard ranked it as the number two song for 1974. 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. In Canada, the single reached number one on the RPM Magazine charts January 26, 1974, and remained there four weeks. Though the song enjoyed contemporary success, modern criticism takes 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. Jacks also released a German-language version in Germany with lyrics by Gerd Müller-Schwanke, "In den Gärten der Zeit".
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
All-time charts
Other versions
The first recording of the English-language version was released on 1963 album Time to Think by The Kingston Trio.
The Fortunes recorded the song for a 1968 single.
The Newmen, an Irish vocal group, released a version in 1969 on Dolphin Records with 'Bonnie Bonnie' on the B side.
Colombian duet Ana y Jaime released a Spanish version called Estaciones en el Sol.
Pearls Before Swine included a version of the song on their album City of Gold in 1971, with lyrics reflecting the darkness of Brel's original version.
