Well, I've often heard 'Cat's in the Cradle' being referenced to Cat Stevens - grrrrrr.
Never heard 'Seasons in the Sun' attributed to Cat though!
And, as others have posted here, no, Cat didn't sing either! In line with SuzieQ's words, it was made a hit by Terry Jacks, however it was written and released originally by Jaques Brel - a belgian singer.
He released it in 1961, it was called Le Moribond. The English translation to 'Seasons in the Sun' (and lyrics) were written by Rod McKuen.
Somewhere along the line - certainly by Terry Jacks version, some verses were changed and one or two left out.
The original verses mention the knowledge he had of his wife's infidelity with his best friend, but he loved her and forgave her:
Adieu Francoise my trusted 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
I found the following information below on the web - wikipedia to be precise, but wikipedia itself isn't always precise with its information, for, even there it states that Cat Stevens did a cover version - I imagine that someone who was convinced it were 'true' decided to provide that informational error:
Source - wikipedia:
This is an English translation of the original final verse by Jacques Brel:
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.
(i.e. he is most likely referring to closing his eyes to her infidelity. This is suggested by the preceding verse in which he bids goodbye to his wife's lover Antoine. Alternatively, it might be a reference to prayer but that would be untypical of Brel.
Terry Jacks omits the original third and fourth verses and adds this verse, which could refer to either a daughter or a young girlfriend:
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,
Whiff of flowers ev'rywhere,
I wish that we could both be there!
Me again
Personally, I liked Seasons in the Sun, not so keen on Cat's in the Cradle, but the lyrics are fine. As for Cat? Nearly his entire catalogue was original. And from my knowledge (as far as his bigger hits were concerned) - Another Saturday Night (orig. Sam Cooke), was the only song written entirely by someone else. Morning Has Broken, while inspired by the beautiful hymn of Eleanor Farjeon, still contained the essential music writing and voice of Cat Stevens.
Happy New Year everyone!
I hope all have been able to view the newly found video of Cat which has been posted on Cat's and Yusuf's MySpace site/blog!
;D
