Tonic: Lemon Parade Meaning

Lemon Parade Lyrics

I wish I'd seen you,
As a little girl,
Without your armor,
To fend off the world,
I would have kept you,
Underneath my wing,
I would protect you,
From everything,

Make way for the lemon parade,
Make way for my girl,
Make way for the...

1. anonymous

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   May 31st 2012 !⃝

   Considering that artists often tap into their own personal world to express an emotion (and considering they are not attempting to appeal to the masses or are subordinate clauses of legally bounded copywrites to their record label), through remarkable raw and honest talent; I feel as though (and because their material is consistant) that he is somehow consoling himself rather than a girl.
   
   Perhaps he is truly empathetically attempting to speak of girl whom was disdent and whom he tried to reach to no avail and can only accuse her past as being the culprit for who she truly is...
   
   Or...he could be projecting who he is as an individual in some deep spheres of his psyche that he transmutes this upon one he feels he can relate with?
   
   With that connotation, the song takes on an entirely different meaning (to me, at least) and is more of a representation of his deeper self.
   
   We often wish to reverse back to a time when our innocence allowed for child-like wonder, however, also left us vulnerable to being hurt. Over time and after, well, being hurt, we learn as if muscle memory which eventually becomes this mighty armor to "fend off the world." This longing to go back in time to protect the most tender parts are inevitably fruitless. Realizing the cause and effect of such things, ya know, the "shaping" of who we become is bitter-sweet (lemon parade)...while we so wish to embrace the world unguarded, we remember the hurts that doing so caused and so are resigned to protect those tender parts...because they never go away. In many ways we wish to throw caution to the wind and open ourselves yet the past prevails, dictating the probable outcome; defining the impossible.
   
   While the juncture seems to imply that a girl was teased by boys left alone at school dances and found a hidden world +because+ of that, I see it a bit differently. If we go back to this being a male perspective with the singer ultimately projecting his own experience, this seems to speak more of, not necessarily the being rejected as more so welcoming it. The sense of rejection can sometimes be imaginary especially to a child who never feels as though they quite fit even if they do. Self inflicted pain that turns into ambivalence later in life. These are, none-the-less painful experiences...deeply personal experiences where we can feel inadequate because internally we do not meet the status quo even if we appear to and I think this song is such a real representation of that...
   
   ...that although we once wanted to embrace the world we found that regardless if the world embraced us or not, WE were the ones who could never really relate, retreating within ourselves to protect every exposing what it is deep inside and to appear to maintain the status quo by going with the flow.
   
   His wish...to not hide, but expose all that is inside yet knowing it is unacceptable by the world and maintains his armor by keeping it out. That is how I personally feel about the song but only cannot really describe nor justify just how immensely so! The music is what drives it home though! Much love!

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