“Lemon Tree” is a folk song written by Will Holt in the 1960s. 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. 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.”

The song has been recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary, Chad & Jeremy, The Kingston Trio, The Seekers, Bob Marley and The Wailers, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Sandie Shaw, and Roger Whittaker. In 1965, Trini Lopez recorded the most successful version of the song which hit number twenty on the Hot 100 and number two on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart.

By Peter Paul and Mary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P15BKPJe90

Lyrics

When I was just a lad of ten, my father said to me
“Come here and take a lesson from the lovely lemon tree”
“Don’t put your faith in love, my boy,” my father said to me
“I fear you’ll find that love is like the lovely lemon tree”

Lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the lemon is impossible to eat
Lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the lemon is impossible to eat

One day beneath the lemon tree, my love and I did lie
A girl so sweet that when she smiled
The stars rose in the sky
We passed that summer lost in love, beneath the lemon tree
The music of her laughter hid my father’s words from me

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
She left me for another
It’s a common tale but true
A sadder man, but wiser now
I sing these words to you