Terry Jacks ‘Seasons in the Sun’ was a Cover Song

One of the first songs that made me emotional was "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks. I didn't realize it was a cover of someone else's song.

The original song was a French song. It was from Jaques Brel, and the song was also meaner. It gave backhanded farewells to his wife, who had an affair, and the priest he disagreed with.

The Kingston Trio did a cover of the French translation in 1963, and the British band the Fortunes did it again in 1968.

In 1973 Terry Jacks got hold of the song as a producer of the Beach Boys version. The Beach Boys decided to scrap the project so Terry, and his wife Susan, chose to cover it. But they decided to make it sentimental instead of sardonic. In March of 1974 it topped the charts.

The song was considered horrible, even though it went to number one. When I bring it up to people, they laugh at me. That's fine. People have been laughing at me my whole life. But the song struck a chord with me when I was young, and it seems I'm not the only one. Kurt Cobain was also touched by the song growing up. In fact, Nirvana did a cover of it.