Lemon (song)
| "Lemon" | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||||
| Single by U2 | ||||||||||||||
| from the album Zooropa | ||||||||||||||
| Released | September 1993 | |||||||||||||
| Format | 12-inch, CD, cassette | |||||||||||||
| Recorded | 1993 | |||||||||||||
| Genre | Disco, alternative rock | |||||||||||||
| Length | 4:39 (edit) 6:58 (album version) |
|||||||||||||
| Label | Island | |||||||||||||
| Producer(s) | Flood, Brian Eno and the Edge | |||||||||||||
| U2 singles chronology | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
"Lemon" is the fourth song and second single from U2's 1993 album, Zooropa. Inspired by old video footage of Bono's late mother, the lyrics describe an attempt to preserve memory through film. More than any previous U2 song, "Lemon" showcases Bono's falsetto skills, aided by atmospheric vocals from the Edge and Brian Eno. The song has been described as futuristic German disco. The album version is one of U2's longest songs.
"Lemon" was written late during the Zooropa sessions between March–May 1993 during the band's break in the Zoo TV Tour. Guitarist the Edge said the song originated from something he "worked up with a drum machine and bass, very rhythmic." He explained that he found it difficult to compose a guitar part to the song until he utilized an "unusual gated guitar effect which worked with the rhythm."
Lead vocalist Bono wrote the lyrics with his late mother in mind. He explains that it was a "strange experience to receive, in the post, from a very distant relative, early Super 8 footage of my mother, aged 24, younger than me, playing a game of rounders in slow motion." The footage showed Bono's mother at a wedding as the maid of honour, wearing a lemon-coloured dress. The film footage inspired Bono to write lyrics about using film to recreate and preserve memory.
The single and promo releases were complete with different dance remixes, as well as a shortened edit of the title track (the album version was almost 7 minutes long). Paul Oakenfold's "Perfecto Mix" of the song was used on the PopMart Tour, being played as the band walked out of their Spinal Tap-like rock prop, a 40-foot mirrorball lemon, onto the B-stage for an encore.
...
Wikipedia