|
Boy, this takes me back. I was eleven -- almost twelve -- when I
first heard the saga of
Charlie
and the M.T.A., the man who never found his way off Boston's
subway. It was summer, I was at Boy Scout Camp, and my
scoutmaster/camp counselor/warden had a guitar and wasn't afraid to
use it. Folk music was big in the mid-60s, those days of
flower children and Vietnam. And we hoped sweet and gentle songs like
Where
Have All The Flowers Gone? would somehow make a difference.
But I digress. For what, the fifteenth time?
Anyway, I found a surprise in my wander along memory lane: a cover of
Terry Jacks' bittersweet hit,
Seasons
in the Sun. But it turns out that the Kingston Trio
had the song before Jacks did. A little Googling and I learned about
Jacques
Brel and a 1961 song called
Le
Moribond: The Dying Man. Personally, I like the English
versions better. Then again, I would, wouldn't I?
|
