Lemon Tree (Fools Garden Song)
| Lemon tree | |
|---|---|
| Fools Garden | |
| publication | 4th December 1995 |
| length | 3:11 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| Author (s) | Peter Freudenthaler, Volker Hinkel |
| Producer (s) | Peter Freudenthaler, Volker Hinkel, Bernd Hasebrink, Thomas Mangold, Roland Röhl, Ralf Wochele |
| Label | Intercord |
| album | Dish of the Day |
Lemon Tree is a pop song by the German band Fools Garden . It was the first single from their studio album Dish of the Day and reached number one in the singles charts in Germany and Austria , among others .
background
Peter Freudenthaler told MDR TV in 2015 that he wrote the song on a Sunday afternoon in the bedroom while waiting for his girlfriend within twenty minutes. He chose the word lemon tree because it sounds good. He hoped that no students would have to interpret the song in class. In September 1995 the band had a gig in the pub The Leprechaun at the train station in Hagsfeld , among the audience was the radio presenter Matthias Matuschik, a friend of his . During the subsequent beer drinking in Karlsruhe city center, the band members told Matuschik about the Lemon Tree that had just been recorded in the studio and hummed the chorus. The radio host decided to play the song on his SWF 3 show, and hundreds of people called the newsroom to find out who had just sung that song. Then the song was put into rotation . After a few requests to buy the single, Intercord offered the band a record deal. This was signed in November 1995.
Cover versions
Lemon Tree was covered in 2009 by Ina Müller with Low German lyrics ( Dorp Reggae ). Jan Böhmermann reworked the song for the hymn to the 1990s in Neo Magazin Royale with German lyrics . The video with the title A Hymn to the 90s , which was elaborately produced in 2014 with many guest stars , became a hit on the internet with YouTube clicks in the millions. In 2016 there was also a live version that ended in a performance of the original by Fools Garden, after the German text had previously read "and the most beautiful melody / was that of Lemon Tree " as a modification of the original Böhmermann version .
There are other cover versions and arrangements by international artists, but they are less well known in German-speaking countries. They also include the parody Christmas Tree of Dustin the Turkey and Tracy Sus versions in Mandarin and Cantonese.
The 2015 album Flashback by Fools Garden, on which the original interpreters themselves cover hits from the 1990s, also opens with a musically completely redesigned version of their own hit Lemon Tree , titled as a 2.0 version. In 2020 Tom Beck interpreted the piece in the program The Masked Singer ; He performed the first stanza in reggae style, the rest as rock and roll in the style of Elvis Presley .
Commercial win
Lemon Tree achieved high chart positions across Europe and represents the only international success for Fools Garden. The song entered the German single charts on December 25, 1995 at number 70. After six weeks, on February 12, 1996, the top 10 was reached for the first time. On February 26, 1996, Lemon Tree finally made it to number one in the German single charts . The song stayed in this position for four weeks, followed by three more weeks in the chart at number 2. Overall, the song spent 15 weeks in the top 10 and 36 weeks in the entire charts in Germany . For more than 500,000 copies of the Lemon Tree single CD sold , Fools Garden received a platinum record from the Federal Association of the Music Industry . In the Austrian Ö3 Austria Top 40 the song entered the 19th place on February 18, 1996. After only three weeks it reached number 2. On March 17, 1996, the top position in Austria was reached, which the song reached again on March 31, 1996 after one week at number 2. In Austria , Lemon Tree also spent 15 weeks in the top 10. The song received a gold record from IFPI Austria . In the Swiss charts , the song debuted on February 4, 1996 at number 31, Lemon Tree just missed the top spot, but was able to stay at number 2 for three weeks from March 10, 1996. As in Germany and Austria, the song spent 15 weeks in the top 10 in Switzerland. Again, Fools Garden received a gold record from Lemon Tree for 25,000 sales .
Lemon Tree was also able to place in the British single charts . After the song was placed in these charts for two weeks at the end of May 1996, it returned to number 26 on August 3, 1996 and was able to remain in the UK single charts for another three weeks. Fools Garden is one of the German performers who have made it into the British charts . A chart placement in the US Billboard Hot 100 succeeded Fools Garden with this song. But the song was able to place itself at number 15 of the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles . Lemon Tree achieved further number one placements in Ireland , Norway and Sweden . In the Belgian single charts , the song reached number 2 in both Flanders and Wallonia .
Although Fools Garden achieved further chart positions in Germany after Lemon Tree , the band is now regarded as a one-hit wonder . At the 1997 Echo Awards , the band won the National Newcomer of the Year award for Lemon Tree .
Chart placements
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
|
1 (36 weeks) | 36 |
 Austria (Ö3)
|
1 (18 weeks) | 18th |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
|
2 (38 weeks) | 38 |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
|
26th (5 weeks) | 5 |
Awards for music sales
Lemon Tree has been awarded 6 × gold and 3 × platinum worldwide.
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Belgium (BEA)
|
 gold
|
25,000 |
|
Germany (BVMI)
|
 platinum
|
500,000 |
 France (SNEP)
|
gold
|
250,000 |
 Italy (FIMI)
|
gold
|
25,000 |
 New Zealand (RMNZ)
|
platinum
|
15,000 |
 Norway (IFPI)
|
platinum
|
10,000 |
|
Austria (IFPI)
|
gold
|
25,000 |
 Sweden (IFPI)
|
gold
|
25,000 |
|
Switzerland (IFPI)
|
gold
|
25,000 |
| All in all |
6 × gold 3 × platinum |
900,000 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Werner Köhler: Hits and Stories Fools Garden - "Lemon Tree". SWR , January 9, 2017, accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ↑ The hit story of the "Lemon Tree" by Fool's Garden | It was Easter | MDR on YouTube
- ^ Sunday, November 11, 2011, p. 3.
- ↑ a b Mona Jäger: Man, this song! In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . March 18, 2014, accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ↑ dpa : Ina Müller arrives with Low German . In: Focus Online . FOCUS Online, November 15, 2009, accessed on March 30, 2016 : “Above all, however, she has missed previous hits from other colleagues with new cover versions: For example, her […]“ Lemon Tree ”from Fools Garden becomes“ Dorp-Reggae ”. "
- ↑ A hymn to the 90s - NEO MAGAZINE with Jan Böhmermann in ZDFneo on YouTube
- ↑ Modesta Pastiche - Lemon Tree (Fool's Garden cover) | Official video on YouTube
- ^ "Dustin - 20 Years A Pluckin 'Out Now On DVD" .
- ↑ Tracy Su - Lemon Tree on YouTube
- ↑ catchy tune Do you still remember them? This band is re-recording their 90s mega hit. In: Express . November 30, 2015, accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Fools Garden - Lemon Tree - Chart placements Germany. GfK Entertainment , accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Fools Garden - Lemon Tree - Chart placements Austria. Hung Medien, accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Fools Garden - Lemon Tree - Chart placements Switzerland. Hung Medien, accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ^ Billboard Chart Search. Billboard , accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ↑ Fools Garden - Lemon Tree - Chart positions Ireland. Irish Recorded Music Association , accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ↑ Fools Garden - Lemon Tree - Chart positions Norway. Hung Medien, accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ↑ Fools Garden - Lemon Tree - Chart positions Sweden. Hung Medien, accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ↑ Fools Garden - Lemon Tree - Chart positions Belgium. Ultratop , accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ^ Fools Garden Charthistory United Kingdom. Official Charts Company , accessed February 15, 2017 .
- ^ Award in Belgium
- ↑ Award in Germany
- ^ Award in France
- ↑ Award in Italy
- ↑ Award in New Zealand
- ^ Award in Norway
- ↑ Award in Austria
- ↑ Award in Sweden
- ↑ Award in Switzerland