Ratings: 4.5/5
Switching between the radio stations while driving to work this morning, some thing familiar and beetle-ish caught my ear and I stopped to listen carefully. Ah! what a surprise!It was a major chart topper from the nineties "Lemon Tree" by Fools Garden.
Fools Garden is a German band formed in 1991.This band is popular for covering classic rock n roll songs in their live concerts. They take such inspiration from British classic rock that cover versions of The Beetle's Songs "Cry Baby Cry" and "Martha My Dear" are found in their studio rock album.
The song "Lemon Tree" was a part of the third album "Dish of the Day" of this band released in 1995. It became a major international hit in 1996. The single reached number 26 in the UK charts and remained at number one for several weeks in Germany. It also reached number one on Ireland charts.
First thing that a person notices is that the beat and style of the song is very Beetlish. So, from the first few beats, it instantly creates a soft corner in our hearts because of our love for The Beetles style.However, the band has its own unique style and flavor to it which sets it apart from the epic band Beetles.
It has those pauses and hang moments which just puts you in wonder along with the singer and then catchy beats come after the pauses which syncs you wonderfully right back to reality. Musically speaking, it has classic indie rock guitar style with raw feel to it. With lovability created for the guy whose story is being told in the song by singing sweet musical sounds like..
pap!.. teebi tapi taba ti pop pop!
Lyrically speaking, it is a widely discussed song on the internet because of many symbolic references and abstract open endings in the lines.
In the very first line, the singer describes the situation of the character that he is sitting in his room waiting and its a rainy day. Rainy day is commonly used interchangeably for a difficult day. The singer goes on to say that he is waiting for some change or some thing to happen which would help him to get out of his difficult situation.
In the second phrase, the singer says that he is driving too fast towards something and he wants to change his point of view. The meaning of this part as understood by me is though he has a fast moving life where it seems that he has time for nothing, but still he feels that his life has no meaning and no direction. He goes on to say that he is lonely and he is waiting for you. You as per my opinion, he is referring to his lover than some sort of hope or change. Change which he talked about earlier was associated with his lover.
The irony of the songs hits us in the third stanza, where the poet says that his lover showed him dreams of good days and good times which is referred here by, " Blue Blue Sky". However, things did not go as she described him and he is in tough bad times which is signified here by "Yellow Lemon Tree". Lemons are sour and these are sour times for him, however ,the color yellow of the tree perhaps still shows some hope for him. He is lost and trying to get out of this messy situation.
The singer says that he misses his power, power to do as he please. He knows that rainy days would present him with heavy showers and in his heart he is becoming ready to face all his fears and all his problems. However, he is still scared at the moment and he has apprehensions and that is signified by the heavy clouds in his head. He does not have the will to face all that at the moment and want to just shut his eyes from it all. That is signified by putting himself into bed. Where he realizes that "nothing ever happens" and his bad situation doesn't change to any better.
He finally accepts and realizes that this isolation and wait for his lover's love and attention is not good for him. Musically speaking as well, this point in the song is the turning point and a wonderful change in tempo and holds the heart of the this song.
He says that he is breaking free from this sadness and gonna find joy, he says its a desert to signify that its empty at the moment but he will sooner or later find another toy, which I believe he is talking about finding another lover and things will start happening for him and turning for him and his ex- lover will see that he can be happy without her and he is no longer waiting for her love and attention.
It is a story of love lost and man's feelings through his depression and wait and his hope motivation in the end to find love again and be happy again. The lead vocalist has sung this song wonderfully and it has defined the character and emotion of the man in his current situation.
Its a wonderful song which ends at a wonderful note. I have presented this song to you with my own interpretation, but that is the beauty of good poetry that every one interprets it as per their feelings and understanding. I hope you would all give a good listen to this song and find your own interpretation of it.
Musically and lyrically, it is a superior song and the singing quality of the vocalist makes this an excellent listening.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fools_Garden
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_Tree_%281995_song%29
http://www.isabelperez.com/songs/lemon.htm
A similar turn of events happens when two people fall miserably in love. The perception of what is right, sane and reasonable changes. They are seen doing things which may be classified by the rest of the world as insane or unreasonable but to them it is the most reasonable and sane action. Like.. wanting to be lost in the jungle for days, wanting to stay in some one's arms forever, stare at some one while they sleep etc etc. They see themselves on one side and every one else on the other end of the world. They feel they share some thing which no one else can understand or feel at that particular moment.
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