“Adieu, Francoise, it's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky.”

— Jacques Brel

Seasons in the Sun" (1961), as translated by Rod McKuen from Brel's song "Le Moribond" · McKuen performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY__eaedtOA · Beach Boys performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzjIra9pheU
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!
As adapted in the Terry Jacks version (1974)
Context: p> 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.Adieu, Francoise, it's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky.
Now that spring is in the air
With your lovers ev'rywhere,
Just be careful; I'll be there.</p

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Jacques Brel 7

Belgian singer-songwriter 1929–1978

Related quotes

“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. Adieu, Francoise, it's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky.”

Rod McKuen (1933–2015) American poet, songwriter, composer, and singer

Seasons in the Sun" (1961), as translated from the Jacques Brel song "Le Moribond"· McKuen performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY__eaedtOA · Beach Boys performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzjIra9pheU
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!
As adapted in the Terry Jacks version (1974)
Translations and adaptations
Context: 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. Adieu, Francoise, it's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky.
Now that spring is in the air
With your lovers ev'rywhere,
Just be careful; I'll be there.

“When the birds sing outside
And you see the trees
Changing into green
The sun invites one
To be out in the open air.
When the sky is so blue, then,
Oh! Then I wish for so much!.”

Mike Oldfield (1953) English musician, multi-instrumentalist

Song lyrics, The Millennium Bell (1999)

“I have not played the cello in front of an audience since long years but I think I must do it this time. I am going to play a melody from the Catalonian folklore: The singing of the Birds. Birds, when in the sky, go singing: Peace, peace, peace. And this is a melody that Bach, Beethoven and all great people would have admired and loved. And, in addition, it springs up from the soul of my country: Catalonia.”

Pablo Casals (1876–1973) Catalan cellist and conductor

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“Because when he sings… even the birds stop to listen.”

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Source: The Hunger Games

“Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.”

Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali polymath

“He says the highway dust is over all.
The bird would cease and be as other birds
But that he knows in singing not to sing.
The question that he frames in all but words
Is what to make of a diminished thing.”

Robert Frost (1874–1963) American poet

Source: The Oven Bird (1916)
Context: There is a singer everyone has heard,
Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird,
Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again.
He says that leaves are old and that for flowers
Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten.
He says the early petal-fall is past
When pear and cherry bloom went down in showers
On sunny days a moment overcast;
And comes that other fall we name the fall.
He says the highway dust is over all.
The bird would cease and be as other birds
But that he knows in singing not to sing.
The question that he frames in all but words
Is what to make of a diminished thing.