"Lemon Tree" is a folk song written by

Will Holt Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

in the late 1950s. Inspired by a Brazilian song, ''Meu limão meu limoeiro'', originally written in 1930.

Background

The tune is based on the Brazilian folk song '' Meu limão, meu limoeiro'', arranged by José Carlos Burle in 1937 and made popular by Brazilian singer

Wilson Simonal Wilson Simonal de Castro, was a Brazilian singer, born in Rio de Janeiro on February 23, 1938. He died in São Paulo on June 25, 2000. He was a singer with great success in the 1960s and in the first half of the 1970s. He was married two times a ...

. The song compares love to a lemon tree: "Lemon tree very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet, but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat."

Trini Lopez recording

In 1965,

Trini Lopez Trinidad López III (May 15, 1937 – August 11, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and actor. His first album included a cover version of Pete Seeger's " If I Had a Hammer", which earned a Golden Disc for him. His other hits include ...

recorded the most successful version of the song which hit number twenty on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number two on the ''Billboard'' Middle Road Singles chart. “I remember meeting Trini Lopez,” Holt told ''

Portland Magazine ''Portland Magazine'', also known as ''Portland Monthly'' since its inception, is a monthly magazine based in Maine. Founded in October 1985 by Colin Sargent and Nancy Sargent of Sargent Publishing, Inc., it has featured notable writers such as P ...

'' in 2013. “He was a sweet guy, really charming. I heard his version of ‘Lemon Tree,’ and I thought, that's another take of the song.”

Other recorded versions

The song has also been recorded by: *

Peter, Paul and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's reper ...

(1962), this version marked the trio's first appearance on the US Hot 100. *

Chad & Jeremy Chad & Jeremy were a British musical duo consisting of Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde, who began working in 1962 and had their first hit song in the UK with " Yesterday's Gone" (1963). That song became a hit in the United States in the following ...

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

The Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk music, folk-influenced pop music, pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the Un ...

Bob Marley and The Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as The Wailers, and prior to that The Wailing Rudeboys, The Wailing Wailers and The Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

(1965), on Whipped Cream & Other Delights *

Sandie Shaw Sandie may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Sandie Clair (born 1988), French professional racing cyclist * Sandie Fitzgibbon, Irish former camogie player * Sandie Jones (1950/1951–2019), Irish singer * Sandie Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker (187 ...

* Roger Whittaker. *Low-Maintenance Perennials as "Lemon Peel Mmm (Live At Altamont)" on Jurassic Park: The Album

Popular culture

*A reference is made to the song in the ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and ...

'' episode "The Phone Message" (Season 2, Episode 4, 17:38). *Another television reference has the character Jefferson D'Arcy singing it during a dream sequence in the '' Married... with Children'' episode "Lookin' for a Desk in All the Wrong Places" (Season 6, Episode 5, 17:00). *In the 1972 animated film, ''

Fritz the Cat ''Fritz the Cat'' is a comic strip created by Robert Crumb. Set in a "supercity" of anthropomorphic animals, it focused on Fritz, a feline con artist who frequently went on wild adventures that sometimes involved sexual escapades. Crumb began d ...

'', a rabbit character refers to the song while bemoaning that the park where they normally play to pick up women is overrun with other guitar players playing multiple renditions of it. *It was adapted as a jingle in the late 1960s for Lemon

Pledge Pledge may refer to: Promises * a solemn promise * Abstinence pledge, a commitment to practice abstinence, usually teetotalism or chastity * The Pledge (New Hampshire), a promise about taxes by New Hampshire politicians * Pledge of Allegianc ...

. *"Lemon Tree" is an essential reference in Tim O'Brien's '' The Things They Carried''.

References

External links

"Lemon Tree, very pretty, and the story behind it’s sweet.", article
by