Terry Jacks from 1974. Actually the song had a much longer history dating all the way back to 1961 when it was written by a French poetger. It was later translated by Rod McKuen, the famous popular poet who many thought was a hack. The Kingston Trio recorded it in 1963 and later it was recorded by the Fortunes in 1968 and Pearls Before Swine in 1970. The Beach Boys recorded the song but never released it. Jacks was actually at that session and he encouraged the Beach Boys to perform the song. None of these versions ever took off until it was recorded by Jacks in 1974 when it became a smash hit in Europe and the US.
It was heavily derided at the time as Bubblegum and an example of what crap popular music was back then. However, I even love Bubblegum junk music, the musical equivalent of cult B-movie hits. The song had and still has many fans. It’s about a man who is dying, which I never knew in all those years I listened to it!
