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Cover of Zooropa by U2
Cover: Zooropa

Song · U2

“Lemon” by U2

From the album Zooropa (1993)

“Lemon” by U2 appears on 22 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 1993 and 2021. It was first released in 1993 on the album Zooropa. Its best result is #7 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #32 alternative song of 1993 and #1,238 alternative song of all time.

22countdowns
9stations
#7best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1993–2021years charted

Watch

Lemon

Video from YouTube (U2 - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Lemon" sits fourth on U2's 1993 album Zooropa and went out on Island as its second single, a near seven-minute slice of mirrorball disco that finds Bono singing in a falsetto he'd never leaned on this hard before, with the Edge and Brian Eno floating ghostly harmonies behind him. The song grew out of old film footage of Bono's late mother, and it's about trying to hold on to a memory by catching it on camera. The Edge, Eno and Flood produced it, Eno added strings and synthesizer, and Flood mixed it.

Mark Neale directed the video, and the Perfecto Mix by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne got a second life on the PopMart Tour, soundtracking the encore as the band stepped out of a giant mirrorball lemon, 40 feet of glitter, and made for the B-stage.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1993 95 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1993 107
1993 21 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1993 91
1993 40 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1993 101
1993 7 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993 100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1994 234 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1996 238 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1999 561 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 561 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 561 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 561 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 1174 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 561 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 561 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 557 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 343 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2007 1798 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1786 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1809 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1855 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1934 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 2009 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2021 451 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908

Charting alongside it in 1993

Best songs of 1993 →
  1. 1CannonballThe Breeders
  2. 2CreepRadiohead
  3. 3LingerThe Cranberries
  4. 4PlushStone Temple Pilots
  5. 5No RainBlind Melon
  6. 6Soul to SqueezeRed Hot Chili Peppers

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