Lemon (song)

Single infobox
Name = Lemon


Artist = U2
from Album = Zooropa
Released = September 1993
Format = CD, cassette, 12"
Recorded =
Genre = Rock
Length = 4:39 (single)
6:58 (album)
Label = Island
Producer = Flood, Brian Eno and The Edge
Chart position =

• #6 (Australia)
• #3 (US Modern Rock Tracks)
• #1 (US Hot Dance Music/Club Play)

Last single = "Zooropa" (1993)
This single = "Lemon" (1993)
Next single = "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" (1993)
Misc = Extra album cover
Upper caption = Alternate Cover
Background = khaki


Lower caption = Promo CDExtra tracklisting
Album = Zooropa
Type = studio
prev_track = "Numb"
prev_no = 3
this_track = "Lemon"
track_no = 4
next_track = "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)"
next_no = 5"Lemon" is the fourth song and second single from U2's 1993 album, "Zooropa". This song, more than any previous U2 song, showcases Bono's falsetto skills, aided by atmospheric vocals from The Edge and Brian Eno. The song has been described as a futuristic German disco [cite web|title = Review|url = http://music.barnesandnoble.com/Zooropa/U2/e/731451804724| accessdate = 2008-08-15 ] .

History

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).

The song was played live at 10 different Zoo TV shows in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, during the show's encore. During each performance, Bono would perform the song dressed as Zoo TV character "MacPhisto," a former cabaret performer with devilish horns. Each performance was immediately followed by the band's "With or Without You". [cite web|title = U2 Melbourne, 1993-11-12, Cricket Ground, ZOO TV Tour - U2 on tour|url = http://www.u2-vertigo-tour.com/show889.html| accessdate = 2006-12-20 ]

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.

The allusion to film in the "Lemon" video was also partially based from the fact that the song was conceived after Bono watched an old filmstrip of his late mother. [cite web|title = U2 MoL - Zooropa - Lemon|url = http://hem.bredband.net/steverud/U2MoL/Zooropa/lemon.html| accessdate = 2006-12-20 ] The song's title originates from this filmstrip in which Bono's mother was wearing a lemon-colored dress. The song's lyrics are about using film to recreate and preserve memory.

Music Video

The music video for "Lemon", directed by Mark Neale, was filmed in black and white with a grid-like background as a tribute to Eadweard Muybridge. [cite web|title = U2faqs.com - Videography FAQ|url = http://u2faqs.com/videography/#9| accessdate = 2006-12-20 ] Muybridge was a photographer who was the first person to successfully capture fast motion on film, using his device, coincidentally named the Zoopraxiscope, a reference to the lyrics ("A man makes a picture - a moving picture/Through light projected he can see himself up close"). In the background of the video, a pendulum can be seen swinging, a clock can be seen ticking, as well as dollars falling from the sky, various scientific objects (DNA, Satellite feeds, etc.), and a cross. All of these symbols seem to be representing mans attempt to preserved time, via money ("He turns his money into light to look for her"), religion, or technology. The video also featured Bono dressed as both "The Fly" and "MacPhisto".

Track listings

Single version 1

12" vinyl release (USA)
#"Lemon" (Bad Yard Club) — 10:13
#"Lemon" (Morales Bad Yard Club Version Dub) — 6:35
#"Lemon" (Morales Momo's Reprise) — 4:08
#"Lemon" (Perfecto Mix) — 8:56
#"Lemon" (Oakenfold Jeep Mix) — 5:30

Single version 2

CD/cassette release (Australia and Japan)
#"Lemon" (Edit) — 4:39
#"Lemon" (Oakenfold Jeep Mix) — 5:30
#"Lemon" (Album Version) — 6:56
#"Lemon" (Morales Bad Yard Club Version Dub) — 6:35

Promo version 1

10" vinyl release (USA)
#"Lemon" (Bad Yard Club Mix) — 8:35
#"Lemon" (Serious Def Dub) — 6:24

Promo version 2

12" vinyl release (UK)
#"Lemon" (Bad Yard Club) — 10:13
#"Lemon" (Momo's Beats) — 4:25
#"Lemon" (Bad Yard Club Version Dub) — 6:35
#"Lemon" (Serious Def Dub) — 6:24

Promo version 3

12" vinyl release (UK)
#"Lemon" (Perfecto Mix) — 8:57
#"Lemon" (Trance Mix) — 9:14

Promo version 4

Single-track CD release (UK)
#"Lemon" (Edit) — 4:39

Promo version 5

CD release (USA)
#"Lemon" (Edit) — 4:39
#"Lemon" (Lemonade Mix Edit) — 4:16
#"Lemon" (Album Version) — 6:56
#"Lemon" (Lemonade Mix) — 6:40

Chart positions

References