Blog Post #4

In comparing the song “Lemon Tree” by Peter, Paul and Mary with “The Lemon Tree” by Fool’s Garden, I found many similarities. The theme itself, the lemon tree is the focal point for each song. The lemon symbolizes the bitterness that can be hidden in something of beauty, in this case a lemon from a lemon tree.
In Peter, Paul and Mary’s piece, the lemon tree is used by a father to teach his son a lesson. It was a lesson that perhaps the father had learned and was to be passed on to his son by sharing his experience and wisdom. Here were the words used: “When I was just a lad of ten, my father said to me, Come here and learn a lesson from the lovely lemon tree.”
The music is calming and light and tells a story through much repetition. It has postmodern characteristics as it challenges us to reflect on a deeper meaning of life and love. Throughout the song the words: “Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet, But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.” It makes me think of the saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” There is always deeper meaning that what meets the eye.
“The Lemon Tree” by Fool’s Garden, uses the lemon tree also. The video shows a man in a room, pondering and wondering while waiting for a woman. The mood created by the music is sad and heavy. The reference to love is found here as it was in Peter, Paul and Mary’s song. He had found happiness in the days before but now he reflects on the isolation of his life and that he doesn’t want to be under a lemon tree. The words used were: “Isolation is not good for me, Isolation I don't want to sit on the lemon-tree.” It is post modernism because it is an individual’s interpretation of the meaning of life and love. He feels lonely and depressed and doesn’t want to be in that state, like the lemon filled with bitterness and despair.
The theme can also be found in “The Things They Carry”. There is much isolation and despair. Things are not always what they seem. Although the ideals behind war, fighting for freedom is good, the reality is that war itself is ugly. Men fight on principle and define evil as the enemy. This is how they can kill a man that they have nothing against personally. They endured many internal conflicts, always questioning their purpose while wrestling with guilt and fear, common with post-moderimsm.

Sources:
du'Monceaux, 2009


"Lemon Tree" Peter, Paul, and Mary
When I was just a lad of ten, my father said to me,Come here and learn a lesson from the lovely lemon tree.Dont put your faith in love, my boy, my father said to me,I fear youll find that love is like the lovely lemon tree.Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweetBut the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweetBut the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.Beneath the lemon tree one day, my love and I did a lieA girl so sweet that when she smiled the sun rose in the sky.We passed that summer lost in love beneath the lemon treeThe music of her laughter hid my fathers words from me:Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweetBut the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweetBut the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.One day she left without a word. she took away the sun.And in the dark she left behind, I knew what she had done.Shed left me for another, its a common tale but true.A sadder man but wiser now I sing these words to you:Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweetBut the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweetBut the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat

"The Lemon Tree" Fool's Garden
I'm sitting here in the boring roomIt's just another rainy sunday afternoonI'm wasting my timeI got nothing to doI'm hanging aroundI'm waiting for youBut nothing ever happens and I wonderI'm driving around in my carI'm driving too fastI'm driving too farI'd like to change my point of viewI feel so lonelyI'm waiting for youBut nothing ever happens and I wonderI wonder howI wonder whyYesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue skyAnd all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-treeI'm turning my head up and downI'm turning turning turning turning turning aroundAnd all that I can see is just another lemon-treeI'm sitting hereI miss the powerI'd like to go out taking a showerBut there's a heavy cloud inside my headI feel so tiredPut myself into bedWell, nothing ever happens and I wonderIsolation is not good for meIsolation I don't want to sit on the lemon-treeI'm steppin' around in the desert of joyBaby anyhow I'll get another toyAnd everything will happen and you wonderI wonder howI wonder whyYesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue skyAnd all that I can see is just another lemon-treeI'm turning my head up and downI'm turning turning turning turning turning aroundAnd all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-treeAnd I wonder, wonderI wonder howI wonder whyYesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue skyAnd all that I can see, and all that I can see, and all that I can seeIs just a yellow lemon-tree