SEASONS IN THE SUN - 3/1 : Rod McKuen

"Le Moribond"
"Season In The Sun"
比利時創作歌手 Jacques Brel 1959年的法文歌曲 "Ne Me Quitte Pas", 描述因妻子的不忠, 沮喪至悲愴, 要走向自絕之前, 跟妻子與朋友作告別的泣訴。

Rod McKuen 繼1960年的第一首取自法文歌曲 "Ne Me Quitte Pas" 改編譯成 "If You Go Away" 之後; 1963年, 他把另一首同是 Jacques Brel 1959年的作品 "Le Moribond" (The Dying Man), 這次 Rod 以較温和, 以寬容面對愛情的歌詞內容, 編譯成英文版本的 "Seasons In The Sun", 同年交由樂隊 The Kingston Trio 與及1968年的英國樂隊 The Fortunes 分别演譯, 但未見有甚麼突破。

一首後續篇, 内容更顯消極, 令致此歌曲不被樂壇視為正面的歌曲作品之一 ....

 "Le Moribond" - (The Dying Man) Jacques Brel -1961

原法文最後两段主歌詞的意思: 

"難忍看見妻子的不忠, 寧願閉上眼睛, 以一死作訣别 !"

Good-bye, my wife, I loved you well

Good-bye, my wife, I loved you well, you know,

But I'm taking the train for the Good Lord,  

I'm taking the train before yours  

But you take whatever train you can;

Goodbye, my wife, I'm going to die,

It's hard to die in springtime, you know,

But I'm leaving for the flowers with my eyes closed, my wife, 

Because I closed them so often,

I know you will take care of my soul.

SEASONS IN THE SUN - Rod McKuen 1963 version

Adieu, Emile, my trusted friend, we've known each other since we were nine or ten.

Together we climbed hills and trees, learned of love and A B Cs.

skinned our hearts and skinned our knees.

Adieu, Emile, 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 ev'rywhere. Think of me and I'll be there.

Chorus:

We had joy, we had fun,

We had seasons in the sun, but the wine and the song like the

Seasons are all gone

Adieu, 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 along.

Adieu, 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 ev'rywhere. Think of me and I'll be there.

(Chorus)

We had joy, we had fun,

We had seasons in the sun, but the the song and the rime of

Seasons out of time.

Goodbye, Francoise, my faithfull wife, without you I'd have had a lonely life.
You cheated lots of times but then, 

I forgave you in the end though your lover was my friend.
Adieu, Francoise, it's hard to die when all the birds are singing in the sky. 

Now that the spring is in the air
With your lovers ev'rywhere; just be careful, I'll be there.

All our lives, we had fun,

We had seasons in the sun, but the stars we could reach were just

Starfish on the beach.

Adieu, Emile. Adieu, Papa. Goodbye, Francoise.

We had joy, we had fun.

We had seasons in the sun, the wine and the song like the

Seasons are all gone

All our lives, we had fun,

We had seasons in the sun, but the stars we could reach were just

starfish on the beach.

SEASONS IN THE SUN - Kingston Trio 1963
 

SEASONS IN THE SUN - The Fortunes 1968

NEXT .... Terry Jacks