TERRY JACKS: El poder de una canción

No fue su única canción conocida pero sí, de lejos, la más popular. Se tituló "Seasons in the Sun" y apareció a fines de 1973 para su propio sello. Al Perú nos llegó -imagino que vía los Estados Unidos-, bajo Bell Records, el sello discográfico de color gris para el cual grababan, entre otros, Gary Glitter, Tony Orlando and Dawn y the Partridge Family. Este 45 r.p.m., interpretado por Terry Jacks, nombre del cantante, tuvo un gran éxito por aquellos inolvidables días. Fue basado en "Le Moribund" de Jacques Brel.

"Seasons in the Sun"
(Terry Jacks)

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 A-B-C'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
Now that the spring is in the air
Pretty girls are everywhere
Think of me and I'll be there.

We had joy
We had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the hills that we climbed
Were just seasons out of time.

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.

Goodbye 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 everywhere
When you'll see them
I'll be there.

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.

We had joy
We had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the stars we could reach
Were just star-fish on the beach.

We had joy
We had fun
We had seasons in the sun...

Antes de convertirse en uno de esos one-hit wonders por el tema en cuestión, Jacks fue parte del núcleo de The Poppy Family, un grupo de música pop oriundo de Vancouver, British Columbia, que tuvo a él y a su futura esposa, Susan Pesklevits, como sus principales miembros. Pero todo terminó luego del fracaso de su matrimonio. En 1973, Jacks y Pesklevits, publicaban sus respectivos discos en solitario, siendo el de él mucho más exitoso que el de ella. Ambos lanzamientos fueron como el anuncio oficial de que la Poppy Family, aquellos de "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" -y que tanto se transmitió en las radios pop limeñas de la época-, había pasado a mejor vida. Pero nacía el mito en la voz y la guitarra de Terry Jacks.

Javier Lishner
Santa Clara, California
3 de julio de 2010