i saw on vh1 greatest one hit wonders that some jerkass who wasn't terry jacks was touring around the midwest as "terry jacks" maybe in the 80s or 90s? jeez, what a world. the terry jackses ain't even real sometimes.
― up and down. SO FAST! stay together.š (Austin), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:02 (one year ago) link
Pros:
- the best five-second instrumental intro of any song ever- attemped Gallicisms: "now that the Spring is in the air"; "pretty girls are everyHWHERE"- berserk key changes (F# to A to Bā)
Cons:
- Brel's original lyric is very caustic and sardonic, Rod McKuen's adaptation is nothing but sap
― Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:03 (one year ago) link
i have a con to add:
the way he says "paPA." but he doesn't even say the first syllable properly. it's like "puh-PAW." no. nobody says it like that.
― up and down. SO FAST! stay together.š (Austin), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:06 (one year ago) link
Released when I was in 8th grade and one of the first 45s I bought. The b-side, Put the Bone In, was... something and gets stuck in my head whenever SitS comes up. Purgatory.
― Jaq, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:09 (one year ago) link
I don't really hate it, but I definitely don't like it. A thousand times better: the Poppy Family's "Where Evil Goes."
― clemenza, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:13 (one year ago) link
Brel's original lyric is very caustic and sardonic, Rod McKuen's adaptation is nothing but sap
hah, exactly! did not deserve this treatment.
at least "Ne me quitte pas" became several quality versions of "If You Go Away"
― waiting for a czar to fall (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:14 (one year ago) link
English translation of "Le Moribund":
Goodbye, Emile, you were my good friendGoodbye, Emile, you were my good friend, you knowWe sang together of the same great winesWe sang together of the same great womenWe sang together of our shared sorrowsGoodbye, Emile, Iām going to dieItās difficult to die in the Spring, you knowBut Iām going to the flowers with peace in my heartBecause I know that you are a good man, good as white breadYouāll take care of my wife after Iām gone(Chorus)I want everyone to laughI want everyone to danceI want everyone to party like a bunch of foolsI want everyone to laughI want everyone to danceWhen they come to put me in my graveGoodbye, Father Priest, I liked you well enoughGoodbye, Father Priest, I liked you well enough, you knowWe werenāt always on the same sideWe didnāt always take the same pathBut we were both looking for Heaven just the sameGoodbye, Father Priest, Iām going to dieItās hard to die in the Spring, you knowBut Iām going to the flowers with peace in my heartBecause you were her ConfessorI know youāll take care of my wife when Iām gone(Chorus)Goodbye, Tony, I didnāt like you too muchGoodbye, Tony, I didnāt like you too much, you knowItās killing me to be dying todayWhile you are so vigorous and full of lifeAnd stronger even than boredom itselfGoodbye, Tony, Iām going to dieItās hard to die in the Spring, you knowBut Iām going to the flowers with peace in my heartBecause you were her LoverI know youāll take care of my wife when Iām gone(Chorus)Goodbye, my wife, I love you stillGoodbye, my wife, I love you still, you knowBut Iām taking that trip to see the Good Lord todayIām taking the trip before you doBut we all take that trip when we mustGoodbye, my wife, Iām going to dieItās hard to die in the Spring, you knowBut Iām going to the flowers with my eyes closed, once moreAnd because I closed them so many times beforeI know youāll take good care of my heart
― waiting for a czar to fall (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:24 (one year ago) link
love his expressiveness on this performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h02pNUKInBo
― waiting for a czar to fall (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:32 (one year ago) link
horrible earworm that afflicted 70s radio. no idea it was based on a song by Jacques Brel but that doesn't make the Terry Jacks song suck any less
― that's not my post, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:33 (one year ago) link
We sang together of the same great wines
― Josefa, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:34 (one year ago) link
xpost well for the record I'm very much in the "kill it with fire" camp lol
― waiting for a czar to fall (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:36 (one year ago) link
The Terry Jacks rendition was my first favorite song. Itās not technically good, but maybe something of Brel comes across in it
― Josefa, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:38 (one year ago) link
― Huey āPianoā Smithers-Jones (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:43 (one year ago) link
Like āBeyond the Clouds.ā
― Huey āPianoā Smithers-Jones (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:56 (one year ago) link
anyway, going with Purgatorio.
― Huey āPianoā Smithers-Jones (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 02:06 (one year ago) link
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.
― visiting, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 02:59 (one year ago) link
we had dog, we had funnow it's dead so we have none
― waiting for a czar to fall (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 02:59 (one year ago) link
The woman with the dead dog is at the butcher buying meat. "'Put the bone in', she cried out once more!"
― Jaq, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 03:04 (one year ago) link
Ha, deliberately didnāt mention that right away.
― Huey āPianoā Smithers-Jones (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 03:07 (one year ago) link
8th grade me totally did not get the joke. I was also learning guitar, memorized and worked out the chords for it and sang a blistering heart-felt rendition.
― Jaq, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 03:14 (one year ago) link
Anyway, carry on. It's all joy and fun on the a-side š
― Jaq, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 03:38 (one year ago) link
Remember discussing that song whilst on crossing guard duty in elementary school.
― Huey āPianoā Smithers-Jones (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 03:43 (one year ago) link
- attemped Gallicisms: "now that the Spring is in the air"; "pretty girls are everyHWHERE"
Huh? Why is that a Gallicism? Had to google...
It is now most commonly pronounced /w/, the same as a plain initial āØwā©, although some dialects, particularly those of Scotland, Ireland, and the Southern United States, retain the traditional pronunciation /hw/, generally realized as [Ź], a voiceless "w" sound.
... though Terry Jacks is from Canada tbf.
Pro: a song about death topping the charts is always a welcome imo.
Con: Terry's whiny wheedling voice.
On balance though I'm more for than against.
― Maggot Bairn (Tom D.), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 07:21 (one year ago) link
There was a DJ in Manchester in the 80s I remember would drop this in at the end of the night...may've been Dave Haslam, idk. Anyway it always struck a chord with the party people of a certain age.
― fetter, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 08:10 (one year ago) link
we had joy we had funwe had Villa on the run
― satori enabler (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 08:24 (one year ago) link
Terrible song but still better than 'Streets Of London'.
― you gotta roll with the pÄ czki to get to what's real (snoball), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 08:31 (one year ago) link
Later covered by Boyd Rice! Not sure if that should go in the pro or con category, although the presence of Rose McDowall might tip it towards pro.
Terry Jacks ephemera from his Wikipedia entry: he later produced records for both DOA and Chilliwack.
― into the crypt of ray reardon (Matt #2), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 08:42 (one year ago) link
Other: the Too Much Joy version fucking rules
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lMRmOCax9M
― Les hommes de bonbons (cryptosicko), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 19:00 (one year ago) link
horrible earworm that afflicted 70s radio.
OTM
imagine a world where your only source of music is an FM radio, which, if you dare to turn it on for an hour or two, is going to play this Terry Jacks song and equally soul-composting tracks at least twice for every time it plays something as tolerable as "Boogie Down" or "Rock On"
― Brad C., Wednesday, 22 February 2023 19:24 (one year ago) link
Feelingsnothing more than
― waiting for a czar to fall (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 19:25 (one year ago) link
(screams into the void)
― Brad C., Wednesday, 22 February 2023 19:27 (one year ago) link
Another other:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heIog9Rv7Qw
― Vernon Locke, Friday, 24 February 2023 05:19 (one year ago) link
downsized to one season
― waiting for a czar to fall (Neanderthal), Friday, 24 February 2023 05:37 (one year ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Tuesday, 14 March 2023 00:01 (one year ago) link
As much as I love 70s fluff, this one is a miss. It's like a poor cousin of "Alone Again (Naturally)." Pugatory.
As several folks have already said, the Brel version rocks, although it sounds weirdly martial.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 14 March 2023 00:22 (one year ago) link
haha it really does
― hootenanny-soundtracking clusterfucks about milking cows (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 14 March 2023 00:29 (one year ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Wednesday, 15 March 2023 00:01 (one year ago) link
I need to be alone
― hootenanny-soundtracking clusterfucks about milking cows (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 15 March 2023 00:01 (one year ago) link
Point of order, "If You Go Away" is line by line a worse Brel translation than "Seasons In The Sun".
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 15 March 2023 10:11 (one year ago) link
― Maggot Bairn (Tom D.), Wednesday, 15 March 2023 10:15 (one year ago) link
This song sucks.
― the very juice and sperm of kindness. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 15 March 2023 11:34 (one year ago) link
well, Terry jacks, itās not a mystery
― at bottom, wrapping my arms around some tripe called "Quest" (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 15 March 2023 13:52 (one year ago) link