Released September 1993 Recorded 1993 | Format 12-inch, CD, cassette Label Island | |
Genre Disco, alternative rock Length 4:39 (edit)
6:58 (album version) | ||
"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.
Contents
Recording and composition
"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.
Remixes and alternate versions
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.
The Perfecto Mix was later reworked into "Skin on Skin" by Oakenfold's band Grace.
Live performances
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". As with most of Zooropa’s material, "Lemon" has never been performed live by U2 since the close of the Zoo TV tour.
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. 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").
The video primarily features a sequence of clips of the band members playing their instruments and performing a series of distinct actions, with captions for each one (e.g. "man walking up incline", "man running", "man playing pool"). 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 man's attempt to preserve 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."