(allmusic.com)
Lemonade
Coco Rosie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pillow case on his head
No more breathing time
An ambulance sped
Sped 'round ever corner
Calling out his name
Shot a rabbit from the back seat window
Ate ice cream in a desert dream
And got lost in father's singing
Too hot inside
Too hot outside
Lazy days when I said let's go for a ride
We'll sail on Spirit Lake
Me, my pappy, and his lemonade
Tim and Tina were my parents' names
They got engaged
They were inflamed
Seduced by the light of butterflies
How they shimmer, how they glimmer
Those butterflies
We seven kids
We almost died
Nearly put to death
By lightening strikes
Instead there was hot, pink
Flashes in the sky
We climbed the rocks, in snow and rain
In search of magic powers
To heal our mother's pain
The lyrics of Coco Rosie’s song “Lemonade” are a mix of surreal imagery and autobiographical events. The song travels from the death of a stranger, whose name is called out by an ambulance, to the singer’s memories of summer days spent with her father, drinking his homemade lemonade. The pillowcase on the stranger’s head signifies the anonymity of the dead, the loss of identity. The lyrics describe a slow and lazy summer day in which nothing much is happening. The singer and her father sail on Spirit Lake and drink lemonade; the world is peaceful, and the heat of the day makes everything feel slow and blurred. The song is a melancholic tribute to the dead stranger, and to the memory of the singer's youth.
The second part of the song talks about the singer's parents' story, their engagement and their fascination with the light of butterflies. The line “we almost died by lightning strikes” is a reference to a dramatic incident in the lives of the siblings: “hot, pink flashes in the sky” are the incredible force of nature that they witness.
Overall, the lyrics of the song evoke the nostalgia and the beauty of youth, juxtaposed with the harsh and unpredictable reality of life.
Line by Line Meaning
It was Cinco de Mayo
The events described in the song took place on Cinco de Mayo
Pillow case on his head
Someone had a pillowcase over their head
No more breathing time
The person with a pillowcase over their head was likely suffocating
An ambulance sped
An ambulance quickly drove to the location of the person suffocating
Sped 'round ever corner
The ambulance driver was driving quickly and turning sharply around each corner
Calling out his name
The ambulance driver may have been calling out the name of the person in danger or someone else they were trying to get in touch with
Shot a rabbit from the back seat window
Someone in the back seat of a vehicle shot and killed a rabbit
Sat and watched the summer corn grow
The person sat and watched corn grow during the summer
Ate ice cream in a desert dream
The person ate ice cream while dreaming of being in a desert
And got lost in father's singing
The person got lost in the sound of their father's singing
Too hot inside
It was too hot inside
Too hot outside
It was also too hot outside
Lazy days when I said let's go for a ride
On lazy days, the singer suggested going for a ride in a vehicle
We'll sail on Spirit Lake
The singer planned to go sailing on Spirit Lake
Me, my pappy, and his lemonade
The singer and their father planned to drink lemonade while sailing
Tim and Tina were my parents' names
The singer's parents were named Tim and Tina
They got engaged
Tim and Tina became engaged to be married
They were inflamed
They were passionate or excited about their upcoming marriage
Seduced by the light of butterflies
They were enchanted by the beauty of butterflies
How they shimmer, how they glimmer
The butterflies were very beautiful and sparkly
Those butterflies
The singer is focusing on the beauty of the butterflies rather than what their parents were doing
We seven kids
The singer has six siblings
We almost died
The singer and their siblings were in a dangerous situation
Nearly put to death
They were very close to dying
By lightening strikes
The danger they faced was caused by lightning strikes
Instead there was hot, pink
Something unexpected happened instead of what was feared
Flashes in the sky
There were bright flashes of lightning in the sky
We climbed the rocks, in snow and rain
The singer and their siblings climbed rocks in both snowy and rainy weather
In search of magic powers
They were searching for something that could give them special abilities
To heal our mother's pain
They wanted to use the magic powers to heal their mother's pain
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Rosiemuffinx
It was Cinco de Mayo
Pillow case on his head
No more breathing time
An ambulance sped
Sped 'round ever corner
Calling out his name
Shot a rabbit from the back seat window
Sat and watched the summer corn grow
Ate ice cream in a desert dream
And got lost in father's singing
Too hot inside
Too hot outside
Lazy days when I said let's go for a ride
We'll sail on Spirit Lake
Me, my pappy, and his lemonade
Tim and Tina were my parents' names
They got engaged
They were inflamed
Seduced by the light of butterflies
How they shimmer, how they glimmer
Those butterflies
We seven kids
We almost died
Nearly put to death
By lightening strikes
Instead there was hot, pink
Flashes in the sky
We climbed the rocks, in snow and rain
In search of magic powers
To heal our mother's pain <3
@joelhohmann5635
please bring this album back to streaming as soon as possible :(
@vooyd01
12 years ago this masterpiece came out and I'm still listening 🫡
@kingghidorah1212
Same legit looked for it after years. Classic.
@davidadams5757
Perhaps 2024's summer will hold these same vibes.
@carlosmntr
Same
@montsealcala3384
❤
@sjwhittaker4561
Me to ❤
@soultrain4549
I finally understand what singing in cursive means
@I_am_a_human_not_a_commodity
holy shit LMAO
Edit: have a free ticket to heaven
~<(^U^)
@thepizzaqveen
She sings in italic cursive