Jacks recorded “Seasons in the Sun” in Vancouver in 1973. The song is about saying goodbye to a childhood friend, a dad, and a girl who always kept him standing. Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? This is the age-old question. My personal belief is that some of the oldies make us think of reality more so than much of contemporary Christian music. Not that the oldies have the answers, but they sure emphasize the questions that people struggle to find answers to.
I wish I could sing it for you, but since I can’t sing, here are 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 ABC’s
Skinned our hearts and skinned our knees
Goodbye my friend it’s hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky
Goodbye 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
We had joy, we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the wine and the song
Like the seasons have all gone
Goodbye 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 ground
Goodbye 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 there
Life is a tremendous gift that comes from God and is required to end at some period of time. All those things we find enjoyable are only for a season. Who are we? Where did we come from? Why are we here? Why death? Where will we be when this season is done? Only one book has the answers to all these questions and that is the Bible.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
Think about it.
Gary