Lemon Demon is a musical project that was created by Neil Cicierega in 2003… Read Full Bio ↴Lemon Demon is a musical project that was created by Neil Cicierega in 2003. The live music includes touring members Alora Lanzilotta (bass), Charles Sergio (guitar) and Gregory Lanzilotta (drums). Tony Wry was the band's drummer from 2007 to 2008.

Under the Lemon Demon name, Neil has released seven full length albums and two EPs. Neil is also known for being the creator of a genre of Flash animation called "Animutation" which is characterized by unpredictable montages of pop-culture images set to music, often in a language foreign to the intended viewers. He is also known from his YouTube channel, 'NeilCicierega', most famous for his Potter Puppet Pals series.

Nightmare Fuel
Lemon Demon Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Damned clowns
And the puppets with human hands
Mannequins moving, my mind barely understands
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel

I turn away and close my eyes
But it's hard not to visualize some

Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel

Damned dolls
And the robots with human eyes
Uncanny valley disfigured dehumanized
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel

My heart, it beats at record rates
When Stephen Gammell illustrates some
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel

Rapidly aging and melting away
Buzz-saws for hands and monsters of clay
When video-tape logos emerge from the void
And the unearthly synthesizers they employed was
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel

I close my eyes and turn away
But half my mind still wants to play with

Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel

Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
(fade out)

Overall Meaning

The song "Nightmare Fuel" by Lemon Demon portrays the feeling of fear and unease through the use of surreal and unsettling imagery. The lyrics depict the singer's phobias that originate from seemingly innocent objects, but are twisted into unnerving and disturbing entities. The song starts with "damned clowns and puppets with human hands," which are often associated with clowns' eerie makeup and puppets' ability to move seemingly on their own. The next verse mentions "damned dolls and robots with human eyes," describing toys that are meant to be cute and playful but have been transformed into creepy objects.

Throughout the song, the singer tries to turn away and close their eyes to avoid being confronted with their phobias, but it proves to be futile as their mind conjures up these images regardless. The use of phrases like "rapidly aging and melting away," "buzz-saws for hands," and "monsters of clay" further adds to the unsettling tone of the song. The lyrics also mention Stephen Gammell, a children's book illustrator who is well-known for his creepy and macabre drawings in the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" series.

Overall, "Nightmare Fuel" serves as a reminder that fear can be found in unexpected places and that our minds are capable of creating terrifying images from harmless objects.

Line by Line Meaning

Damned clowns
Evil, cursed clowns that bring terror and horror

And the puppets with human hands
Dolls with hands that look like of humans inducing unease and making it difficult to comprehend

Mannequins moving, my mind barely understands
Models or wax figures that are in motion and it's really hard to comprehend and makes one feel uneasy

Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
All of the above are classic sources of fear that bring nightmares

I turn away and close my eyes
Trying to avoid and reject these fearful and disturbing images

But it's hard not to visualize some
However, it's challenging to not imagine them

Damned dolls
Cursed, evil dolls that are threatening

And the robots with human eyes
Mechnical beings with eyes that are human-like that cause a feeling of discomfort

Uncanny valley disfigured dehumanized
Artificial beings that look almost human but are disfigured, lacking their humanity

My heart, it beats at record rates
Anxiety reaches new levels due to the scary images being imagined

When Stephen Gammell illustrates some
Stephen Gammell is an artist known for his horror illustrations which trigger fear and unease

Rapidly aging and melting away
Images of things that usually last forever aging rapidly, dissolving and disintegrating at a quick pace... invoking fear

Buzz-saws for hands and monsters of clay
Creatures with weapons for hands, monsters made of clay that are ready to cause harm... all of which are terrifying

When video-tape logos emerge from the void
The logos from vintage video-tapes that appear from complete darkness... unexpected and causing alarm

And the unearthly synthesizers they employed was
The strange electronic sounds used in the past really add to these creepy images as if an alien soundtrack is playing

I close my eyes and turn away
Trying to get rid of the scary thoughts and images brings relief but only for a few seconds

But half my mind still wants to play with
However, there is still a part of the brain that is attracted to spooky and spooky things

Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
All of the above produces classic fear that bring nightmares

Good old fashioned Nightmare Fuel
Repeat of the above meaning