About The Song
“Seasons in the Sun” is an English-language adaptation of the song “Le Moribond” by Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel with lyrics by American singer-poet Rod McKuen. It became a worldwide hit in 1974 for Canadian singer Terry Jacks and it became a Christmas number one in the UK in 1999 for Westlife. Terry Jacks’s version is one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million copies worldwide.
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. (where it was released on Bell Records), 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 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. 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 (Gold Fish GF 100) reached number one on the RPM Magazine charts January 26, 1974 and remained there four weeks.
Video
Lyric
🎵 Let’s sing along with the lyrics! 🎤
Goodbye to you my trusted friend
We’ve known each other since we were nine or ten
Together we’ve climbed hills and trees
Learned of love and ABCs
Skinned our hearts and skinned our kneesGoodbye my friend, it’s hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky
Now that the spring is in the air
Pretty girls are everywhere
Think of me and I’ll be thereWe had joy, we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the hills that we climbed
Were just seasons out of timeGoodbye papa, please pray for me
I was the black sheep of the family
You tried to teach me right from wrong
Too much wine and too much song
Wonder how I got alongGoodbye papa, it’s hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky
Now that the spring is in the air
Little children everywhere
When you see them, I’ll be thereWe had joy, we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the wine and the song
Like the seasons, have all goneWe had joy, we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the wine and the song
Like the seasons, have all goneGoodbye 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 groundGoodbye 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 everywhere
I wish that we could both be thereWe had joy, we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the stars we could reach
Were just starfish on the beachWe had joy, we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the stars we could reach
Were just starfish on the beachWe had joy, we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the wine and the song
Like the seasons, have all goneAll our lives we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the hills that we climbed
Were just seasons out of timeWe had joy, we had fun
We had seasons in the sun