YEWON Brings Back The Soft Magic Of “Lemon Tree”
Photo: @yewon.mp3/Instagram
A Britpop song by a German band, revisited by a Korean singer: the rediscovery of a classic that transcends borders and never loses its charm across decades.
We don’t know much about singer-songwriter YEWON (Jeong Ye-won 정예원), but we know we love her sweet cover of a 30-year-old European hit that keeps conquering hearts around the world. The artist released her version of “Lemon Tree” by Fools Garden on February 25, but she had already made her own version of the song famous almost two years ago.
YEWON’s cover originated from a 2024 video she filmed during a trip to the UK, which garnered over 13 million views. People adored her cover so much that they started flooding YEWON’s feeds with demands for an official release. This February, they were granted their wish with the digital single landing on all major platforms. An official music video premiered on YouTube the same day, directed by Kim Jihoo (HUMU), featuring YEWON herself and actor Jung Hamin.
With this single, YEWON is ready to give her singing career a real shot. She signed with M.O.M Entertainment (엠오엠엔터테인먼트) last December, and after having dabbled in acting, writing a book, and having proven her versatility as an all-round entertainer with her athletic prowess on the soccer field on SBS's sports show 골 때리는 그녀들 (The Girls Who Score Goals), she’s focusing mainly on her musical career.
Here is the UK-trip video that started it all:
Koreans and “Lemon Tree”: A Pairing That Was Meant to Be
The original song showcases a sweet blend of melancholic lyrics and an infectious, upbeat pop melody, making it a perfect fit for Koreans’ proclivity for gentle, heartwarming music.
In fact, the track had already enjoyed a resurgence in 2008 thanks to Park Hyekyung (박혜경), who recorded a very famous Korean-language version.
YEWON has reimagined it in a fresher, softer way than both her sunbae and Fools Garden. While those versions (especially the original one) had a brighter, more upbeat mood, YEWON amped up the calm and delicate sensibility of it, leaning on her slightly husky, very sweet vocals to infuse the monotony of everyday life with a dreamy, introspective quality.
Fools Garden’s “Lemon Tree”: A Classic
Let’s take this leisurely stroll down a lemon-tree-lined memory lane, going all the way back to the source. It was November 1995 when a German band named Fools Garden released their third album, Dish of the Day, which contained the song that would make them famous all over the world—but maybe not enough to remember that they were Germans and not Brits.
Why the confusion, you ask? Because “Lemon Tree” is the epitome of a Britpop song from the ‘90s—and is perfectly sung in English, too. The band's lead vocalist, Peter Freudenthaler, said he wrote the song on a Sunday afternoon while waiting for his girlfriend, but the girl never showed up.
The song actually became an international hit the following year, remaining at number one for four weeks in Germany and also topping the charts of Austria, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden. Fools Garden even recorded a new version of it in 2009 for their best-of album, High Times – The Best of Fools Garden.
At the time, the magazine Music & Media described the song as “a cross between a catchy circus tune and late '60s bubblegum pop with trademark harmonies, which should appeal to the broadest of radio audiences."
Which version do you prefer?
Edited by Sandy Ou