TERRY JACKS - “Seasons In The Sun”
“Seasons In The Sun” is one of those records that was never not going to be enormous. The weird dolour of its intro chords, Terry Jacks’ tear-choked vocals, Brel’s terrace-ready chorus and the sheer oddness of the song….even if you think it’s awful or kitsch you can’t be surprised at its success. Sometimes I do think those things, but the elements mockers tend to point to are also keys to “Seasons”‘ effectiveness. Those final chord shifts, for example - outrageous manipulation yes, but also the desperate last grabs at life by the dying singer.
I’ve not heard Brel’s “Le Moribund” though I know that a hefty subtext went missing in the transition from Jacques to Jacks - the dying man may be a suicide, driven to it by his wife’s infidelity. It seems to me though that removing that story, that explanation, must improve the song, or at least make it much stranger. “Seasons” is now about the awful blank randomness of death, rather than the bitter punchline to life as a bad joke. 6
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My name is Kenny on October 19th, 2007
Unjustifiable. The worst song ever recorded. Tom’s entry reads like complete gibberish to me; I literally disagree with every line in this review. Tom lives in an alternate universe; I have nothing in common with him.
Rosie on October 19th, 2007
By the way, I did say in the previous thread that we were about to discuss a good death song, if only obliquely. The good one is Jacques Brel’s; this one lousy, and I’m sorry Erithian, it would be lousy anyway but it’s impossible for me not to compare it with Le Moribond and in comparison it’s not only lousy but a desecration.
intothefireuk on October 19th, 2007
Not being privvy, at the time, to the Brel original (in fact I only heard Le Moribund a couple of years ago) I had to judge Jacks song only on its own merit. I wasn’t particularly fond of the sing-songy chorus which was easily adapted for nefarious uses such as :-
‘we had joy, we had fun, we stuck fingers up our ****’ (thanks West London massive). I didnt like the mawkish nature of the verses. But, I did like Jacks voice, the production, the twangy guitar and that indefinable quality that you can’t quite put your finger on. So I developed a soft spot for the record which was further softened by the fact that I discovered Bowie, who I was mad on at the time, had also released a Brel song, ‘Amsterdam’ as the flip of Sorrow. He’d also played ‘My Death’ live. So Brel became a familiar name to me. Further enhanced by finding Scott Walkers recordings. Which, of course, leads us to Jacks next hit. Again, he used another Brel song, ‘If You Go Away’ and tinkered with it. Severely edited and knocked into a more straightforward pop format it triggered a similar reaction in me to Seasons.
Listening to Seasons now, post Le Moribund, I actually like it a little more. Brel’s songs do lend themselves to interpretation, and this was Mr Jacks own (even with McKuens dodgy lyrics). Listen to The Poppy Family and you’ll see where he’s coming from - or just call it ’slightly sad pop’.
Marcello Carlin on October 20th, 2007
I think you’ll find that “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” only made number two here.
Caledonianne on October 20th, 2007
I don’t know whether, before I joined your happy band, you discussed a perfect loo book from a couple of years ago - “I hate myself and want to die: the 52 most depressing songs you’ve ever heard”? Naturally about half of them are on my Ipod, but that’s just me.
“Seasons” is the lead entry in the “Perfect Storm” category - ” the absolute most depressing….. when songwriters, attempting to create an emotionally affecting song, swing for the catharsis fence, but end up fouling into the grandstand, wiping out 1,000 nuns and orphans. There’s a complete cluelessness to perfect storms, with the perpetrator completely unaware of the catastrophe that’s being unleashed” (Actually that’s nonsense, one of his Perfect Storms is Harry Chapin’s “The Shortest Story”, and Chapin knew EXACTLY what he was doing).
If anyone’s interested I could post the entry in full.
o sobek! on October 21st, 2007
like casino i know this almost entirely due to k-tel/time-life sounds of the seventies tv ads - like ‘billy don’t be a hero’, ‘the night chicago died’, and many other am radio monsters that ppl who lived thru the 70s perhaps shudder at but ppl who came afterward look at and go ’seems harmless enough to me’ it’s a genre that seems to have stayed in the 70s with no revival and little exposure afterwards - unlike philly soul, glam, socal rock, disco, punk, wimprock, singer songwriters, prog, funk, crossover country, southern rock, yacht rock, or any other ’sound of the seventies’ i NEVER hear these songs played except in the context of ‘hey - remember the seventies?’, only serving to remind me that i will NEVER be able to get a grasp on the seventies.
6 seems fair.
Waldo on October 22nd, 2007
Morbid, dying Hoser, Jacks, caterwaulers his way back to the pavilion in a dour soliloquy of self-pity. He has just enough petrol left in the tank to say tatty-bye to a few of the folks and donate a few choice guitar chords to posterity before hitting the snooze button. Do we care? Er…no.
But cards on the table, peeps. I bloody loved this back in the day. It was completely miserable, negative and self-centred and so was I at that time. I played it over and over, also the B-side, which told the story of Terry’s mutt getting run over, and only stopped playing it when my brother, older by three and a half years, suggested that if I really wanted to feel sorry for myself, I was welcome to his Neil Young and Leonard Cohen albums. I snapped this offer up in a microsecond. What is it about Canadian soloists? Young, I discovered, is a wonderful artist, as to a certain extent is Cohen. But it certainly would not be wise putting any of their records on the jukebox in the Beachy Head Tavern, one of my own occasional watering holes.
I now regard “Seasons in the Sun” as a comedy record and this allows me to pay it an unexpected compliment, in as much as suggesting that Jacques Brel could have written it and Lord Scott Walker could have sung it, as has already been discussed by all you clever dickies. It certainly is an oddity and that ticks the main Brel/Walker box before we get out of the starting blocks. Terry Jacks himself, meanwhile, had earlier featured in a hippy-type mob alarmingly called The Poppy Family, who charted here with a ridiculous offering called “Which Way You Going, Billy?”, the song’s subject most certainly not the same Billy who got relieved of all his earthly burdens in the last episode here.
Waldo on October 22nd, 2007
Well, yes, I suppose technically speaking, Brel did indeed write it…
Marcello Carlin on October 22nd, 2007
“Which Way You Goin’ Billy?” was a GREAT record by a GREAT group with a HIDDEN SUBTEXT THINK ABOUT IT
Cohen’s one of the funniest writers in all of “rock.” If you want black comedy you can’t beat “Dress Rehearsal Rag” (and if you want unintentional comedy you can’t beat Noel Harrison’s version of “Dress Rehearsal Rag”).
1974 Neil Young would have been On The Beach - not a bundle of laughs for sure but then it’s not suicidal either (the irony of those two IMac reviews a lifetime apart).
Is there actually a Beachy Head Tavern then? I bet it’s been turned into one of those themed Irish pubs with non-stop Corrs and Westlife on the jukebox. Now THAT would be enough to drive me off the cliff.
Erithian on October 22nd, 2007
Oh yes, I was going to mention Bowie’s marvellous version of “Amsterdam” – a far better Brel cover with all the atmospheric qualities of the original. Pity it was tucked away on the B-side of “Sorrow”, but lines like “He’ll drink to the health of the whores of Amsterdam” and “He pisses like I cry on the unfaithful love” would have sat uncomfortably alongside the Wombling Song.
Marcello (#29) – when I said we weren’t too far away from having a number one from BTO, I did mean one chart place away!
Waldo on October 22nd, 2007
Marcello (#34) - Yep, The Beachy Head Tavern, although it’s now just called The Beachy Head. I was in there yesterday afternoon, in fact, with Mrs Waldo and there were plenty of blokes in England rugger shirts milling around with a very worried-looking Beachy Head Chaplain weaving his way around them. The pub is an excellent eatery and is certainly not “themed”, which is just as well. Outside on the cliffs there are a series of plaques quoting the scriptures, basically telling folk not to jump. Of course, one poor guy was once famously racing to the edge in order to turn himself over but was checked by being upended by one of these monuments stating “NO PROBLEM IS TOO GREAT FOR GOD”. I’m sure that’s true but it cost this poor fucker a broken ankle. Even more bizarrely, a wonderful local man, who has saved several lives up on the Head, was recently cautioned as to his activities by none other than the Coastguard for breaching Health and Safety regulations, that is to say he was putting himself at risk. This guy has now ceased his work. Honest to God, you couldn’t make it up.
FT's Lena on October 22nd, 2007
Sounds like it has a theme to me - don’t jump off the cliff!
Terry Jacks’ best friend had died just before he recorded this song, plus his wife Susan (who sings “Which Way You Goin’ Billy?”) was divorcing him. He had a right to sing the blues…
Waldo on October 22nd, 2007
Lena - “Sounds like it has a theme to me - don’t jump off the cliff!”
Good one, I have to say…
FT's Lena on October 22nd, 2007
:-)
Snif on October 23rd, 2007
“”don’t jump off the cliff!
Never did Sue Barker any harm
FT's doofuus2003 on October 23rd, 2007
I always put this one together with Honey by Bobby Goldsboro, surprised it hasn’t been mentioned yet
Marcello Carlin on October 23rd, 2007
That came back in ‘75, a number two hit for the second time thanks to Noel Edmonds and his sodding Saddest Song Ever poll. It was bad enough the first time around!
For no reason whatsoever Tommy Cooper’s 1960 hit single and Junior Choice perennial “Don’t Jump Off The Roof Dad (You’ll Make A Hole In The Yard)” has just sprung to mind.
LondonLee on October 23rd, 2007
“The melody is so simple and well known that it must have been used as a terrace chant, but I can’t for the life of me think of any.”
We had joy, we had fun
We had Tottenham on the run
That’s the one I remember
Erithian on October 24th, 2007
Stuart Maconie played another great Brel cover last night – “Next” (“Au suivant”) by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. A fine band, though slightly deranged and you might not necessarily want them next to you in the bus queue. I see MC has referred to Alex Harvey in the “Streak” thread – maybe he can verify the legend of his jeans being held together with sellotape? Oddly enough I don’t remember “Next” from the time, but did get “The Faith Healer” single, which shoulda been a monster.
Marcello Carlin on October 24th, 2007
It was a monster in Scotland (another knockout Phil Wainman production) but the rest of the nation took a longer while to catch on to the greatness that was SAHB. I still think their Christmas show at the Glasgow Apollo in ‘75 - which both my dad and I attended - is the greatest gig I have ever witnessed.
The jeans/sellotape interface was indeed true; he admitted it on Tiger Tim Stevens’ show on Radio Clyde.
Waldo on October 24th, 2007
I have an old tape of “Whistle Test” showing Harvey doing “Next” and, yes, it’s magnificent. Whispering Bob pronounced it “great”. So no stereotyping there, then. Also featured was Tim Buckley, only months away from edging one to the keeper, the poor sod. He performed “Dolphins”. Brilliant also.
FT's crag on October 24th, 2007
hello
longtime listener first time caller
Having just listened to Seasons again for the first time in a few years I was reminded of something I was told about it a while back- the fab swampy guitar riffs at the intro and after each chorus (IMO the records main appealing factor) were played by none other Link Wray, creator of “Rumble” famous as the only instrumental disc banned on US radio for fears it would incite teenage riots. Can amyone confirm this or was I dreaming?
Erithian on October 25th, 2007
Welcome along Cragster, the more the merrier.
“Edging one to the keeper” – great phrase!
Marcello Carlin on October 25th, 2007
Wikipedia says that the riffs were inspired by “Rumble” rather than Link Wray playing them as such (at the time LW was putting out some rather fine records on the then nascent Virgin label).
crag on October 26th, 2007
thanks for the welcome (not sure about “cragster”, mind).
You might be right about the Link thing Marcello though i personally cant hear any similarity between the two riffs and, besides surely even before the recent events of Hazelhurstgate we all knew to take much of whats on Wiki with at least a pinch of salt?
Either way I think i’m going to continue to keep believing it if only cos its such a bizarre idea.
FT's doofuus2003 on October 26th, 2007
For sure Next was a big part of the SAHB live show; saw them several times at the big outdoor kind of event, always 4th or 5th on the bill, but with a theatrical style suited to the big crowd in the days when there were no huge screen close ups.
Caledonianne on November 2nd, 2007
#45
Aaaah! Tiger Tim Stevens. I remember bopping at his Sunday afternoon gig in Shuffles in Sauchiehall Street…
wichita lineman on June 19th, 2008
Re 37. Terry got his revenge on swingin’ Susan by ensuring he owned the rights to her solo records and the Poppy Family, which explains why they so rarely crop up on cd. Unlike this dilly of a death disc.
Got to agree with Marcello, the Poppy Family were a FABULOUS group - Susan Jacks’ voice is one of the purest and saddest in all of pop. Which Way You Goin’ Billy is ok, but their 2 lps feature far better stuff. Check out Free From The City on one of Finders Keepers’ semi-legit compilations (possibly Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word).