jacques brel is alive and well. oh, and he wants his damn song back.

canadian terry jacks had his one and only hit with seasons in the sun, a song adapted from french treasure jacques brel’s song le moribond (in english, the moribund.) (is it me, or does he have a chia pet growing on his head?) while jack’s sanitized version doesn’t feature little facts like the wife’s infidelity (or even the existence of the priest), it certainly jerks enough tears out of anyone within earshot.  is he singing to his wife? his daughter? his bank manager? who knows.

the beach boys covered this lovely ditty but, probably in a moment of sanity, never released it. that freed our friend terry, who sang on the beach boys version, to release his version with his soon-to-be-ex-wife susan in 1974. (earlier, the two had been part of a group the poppy family. a group with an equally awful song that became a hit, which way you goin’, billy. however, as the song is from 1969, we can’t officially include it. but rest assured: it, too, bites.)

of course, it can, and does, get worse. witness nirvana singing this timeless classic. my secret boyfriend, dave grohl, is being tortured singing, to use the word loosely:

see, it’s an evil song. it disintegrates with every additional cover of it.

yep, jacques brel may be alive and well. but thanks to seasons in the sun, i bet he’s also mad as hell.