Season Before the Sun

Every now and then I come across a little fact that makes me feel my age.  Fifty years ago this month a one-hit wonder named Terry Jacks released the single “Seasons In The Sun”, which parked at #1 on the music charts for three weeks and burned itself into my twelve-year old brain forever.  Any teen from back then will never forget the We had joy, We had fun lyrics.  Ironically it wasn’t a happy song (as in …goodbye Papa, it’s hard to die…) but not to worry.  Today I want to talk about the season before the sun instead.

Whether you celebrate Easter (this Sunday), the vernal equinox (a week ago Tuesday), or college basketball’s March Madness (on-going), the hints are everywhere: spring is beginning to, uh, spring.  For my wife and I, the season means strawberries, when the best of the fruit is available for the next sixty days.  For others it means the kids are out of school for a week.  But surely there’s no better indication of spring than flowers.  The bright bursts put winter’s doldrums behind us while the sun shines more often.  Flowers signify new beginnings.

Oz is full of poppies

Guys don’t talk about flowers much (unless we’re gardeners) but it doesn’t mean we haven’t had our share of close encounters with them.  My first was probably with dandelions (yes, they’re flowers) and the childhood fascination of blowing the blooms into countless flying bits.  Growing up in Southern California also meant going to the Rose Parade, where the bigger floats average more than 50,000 flowers. Senior prom was probably the one and only time I bought flowers in high school.  Call a wrist corsage awkward if you will, but hey, it beats the terror of pinning flowers on a girl’s dress.

dicey

Speaking of awkward, when I first met my wife in college I decided to be coy and send flowers, forcing her to make the next move.  But fate played a part when the bouquet was delivered to the wrong dorm, the flowers wilting at the front desk for days.  I didn’t hear from her for a while and she didn’t hear from me, and that meant we were thinking nasty thoughts about each other. “Ungrateful” (my end). “Loser” (hers).  Another girl finally let her know about the flowers and it’s a good thing she found out.  A marriage was saved!

pricey

If you’re thinking my spend on flowers is below average, I’m confident I made up for it in a single day: at my daughter’s wedding.  Her bouquet, her bridesmaids’ bouquets, down the aisle, around the altar, at the centers of the reception tables, and on and on – the blooms were everywhere.  Let’s just say the cost of all that color was probably enough to buy a small car.

I’ve brought home several flower bouquets over the years, whether to my wife or to my mother.  What used to be an in-shop, DIY experience is now pretty much Amazon, where you click your way through the colorful screens of 1-800 FLOWERS or FTD to create the perfect arrangement.  And as you know, you rarely get the exact look you choose from the photos.  The fine print protects the companies by stating something like “depending on availability”.

I like to bake (which is not the same as “to cook”), so when someone says “flower” I’m thinking “flour”.  After all, flour is to baking as flowers are to spring.  Flowers wouldn’t taste good in my chocolate-chip cookies, but you do find them in other foods.  Top your soup with a squash blossom, your tea with chamomile flowers, or your salads with calendulas, pansies, or marigolds. Not for me; no thanks.  When it comes to flowers as food additives I might be tempted to say, “the bloom is off the rose”.

The Masters is full of azaleas

Okay, so I went through the lyrics of “Seasons In The Sun” again and noticed …now that the spring is in the air, with the flowers everywhere… , so… what do you know?  Terry and I are talking about the same season after all.  At least this one lyric brings a little joy and fun to an otherwise depressing song.  It’s what this kid born in the 1960s might call “flower power”.

Blogger’s note: “Seasons In The Sun” really was #1 on the music charts exactly fifty years ago this month.  My wife and I bought strawberries last weekend, which had me thinking about seasons, which had the song bouncing around in my brain.  But the fifty-years thing is an eerie coincidence, don’t you agree?  Maybe a higher flower power is at work here.

Some content sourced from Wikipedia, “the free encyclopedia”.

Author: Dave

Four hundred posts would suggest I have something to say… This blog was born from a desire to elevate the English language, highlighting eloquent words from days gone by. The stories I share are snippets of life itself, and each comes with a bonus: a dusted-off word I hope you’ll go on to use more often. Read “Deutschland-ish Improvements” to learn about my backyard European wish list. Try “Slush Fun” for the throwback years of the 7-Eleven convenience store. Or drink in "Iced Coffee" to discover the plight of the rural French cafe. On the lighter side, read "Late Night Racquet Sports" for my adventures with our latest moth invasion. As Walt Whitman said, “That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” Here then, my verse. Welcome to Life In A Word.

20 thoughts on “Season Before the Sun”

  2. After reading your whole post, one nagging question remains… just how good are your chocolate chip cookies? Yum! One of my favorites! Speaking of cookies and flowers, when I make sugar cookies I sprinkled them with flakes of lavender flowers and coarse vanilla sugar right after they come out of the oven. Mmmm!

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    1. Now YOUR cookies I’d try (flowers or no flowers) because the brief description sounds pretty amazing. MY chocolate chip cookies aren’t really mine. A few years ago our local newspaper shared the recipe for the Doubletree Hotel cookies, the ones they leave on the pillows at night. They’re a little unconventional in that they use oatmeal as an ingredient and take twenty minutes to bake, but man are they good.

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    1. The Stones put a lot more meaning into dandelions than my childhood poofs. And – not gonna lie – I had a hard time picking out a very young Mick on the album cover.

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  4. I remember that song, when I think of it I remember that time in my youth. It’s a sad song, but it sticks with you. I never bought that many flowers in my life — and at times thing I should have bought more.

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    1. To your point, it fascinates me how burned into my brain (to my words) those Top 40 hits still are. ”The Night Chicago Died” and that “Whoa ho ho it’s Magic!” song come to mind. Lots of catchy tunes back in the 70s. But “Seasons In The Sun” belongs in the one-hit wonder pantheon.

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  5. Never heard the song, but I do like flowers. So sad about the flowers going to the wrong dorm. Thank goodness that got sorted! I cringe to think of the cost of your daughter’s wedding flowers, especially because we have three daughters. Eek.

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    1. Not to pour salt on the wound but the florist was the third highest expense of my daughter’s wedding, after the catering and the venue itself. At least I have photos as proof of my “investment”. More importantly, the happy couple is almost to two years and going strong.

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  6. Well, I must be old Dave as I remember that song, as well as “Which way you goin’ Billy?” by Susan Jacks. That song might have been one of the first songs heard on my little transistor radio that I listened to with the pink earphone in one ear. The Poppy Family were big back in the day. Spring just revives your senses after the long, cold, gray Winter, especially in a four-season state. All of a sudden, the world looks brighter wherever you look. In the neighborhood I see the flowering trees are starting to bud, Crocuses pushing through the earth – it makes you feel good. I’ve never tasted flowers on food, though I have seen focaccia with flowers baked into it – I did a double-take when I saw it. I remember bringing home fistfuls of dandelions as a present for my mom as a young girl. A friend of mine’s mom made dandelion wine every Spring. You are lucky someone intervened about the flower delivery – you would not be where you are today!

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    1. I’ve come a long way with dandelions. Now I know the tea has medicinal benefits (though I prefer my coffee). From reader Betsy’s comment, it’s strange to think some younger people have never even heard of “Seasons In the Sun”. Then again, I wouldn’t recognize just about any Top 40 song out there today 🙂

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      1. “Seasons in the Sun” was on the airwaves ever time you turned on the radio for awhile and was a catchy tune. I don’t know any of the Top 40 songs out there either Dave. I am on Twitter/”X” for weather and breaking news stories. There are trending topics like songs, TV shows, movies that I’ve never heard of and I don’t feel like I’d like to get to know them either.

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  7. There is nothing better than strawberries in season! They taste like candy for such a short time. I’m very glad that the flower fiasco in college was resolved. It is crazy how much wedding flowers cost… Jon and I visited a tulip farm in New Jersey a while back called Holland Ridge Farms and they send 24 tulips for about $20 including shipping so I like to send those to family for special occasions.

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    1. We’re loyal to a strawberry farm down here just like you’re loyal to Holland Ridge. Their strawberries are the best around and they know it. I think we pay another 50% over the next option, but as you say, they’re like candy.

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  8. I’m sorry your bouquet was delivered to the wrong dorm, that’s just plain sad. I remember this song, but didn’t realize it was as old as it is. Again, reality makes me feel ancient. No longer a spring chicken, I guess.

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    1. The ill-delivered bouquet makes for a good story decades after the fact. And I agree; “Seasons…” was longer ago than I remember. I think it’s the turn of the century thing, 25-odd years on either side of it.

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