Lemonade

Actually, catherinatwice, it's "Me, my pappy, and his lemonade." and "shot a rabbit from the backseat window."

Where do you get shut the bar to the exit window? :S

Anyways...

I believe this song is about their Father. In their music video, there are two old women walking around a big, deserted house. In every room they enter, there is a different scene. The two old women are supposed to be them. I think they are portrayed as so old because they are remembering memories so long ago. The first room they enter has two young children, which are also them, and a man in native clothing.

I did some reasearch, and it says that they are estranged from their Father, and when they were younger, they used to spend summers with him, listening to him talk about Native American Religion, because it really interested him. I think it exaplins that scene. It also explains the chorus of this song... it summarizes the summers they spent with him...

"Shot a rabbit from the back seat window Sat and watched in the summer corn grow Ate icecream in a desert dream And got lost in Father's singing Too hot inside to hot outside Lazy days when you said just go for a ride We'll sail on Spirit Lake, Me, my pappy, and his lemonade"

Well, if you knew anyhting about Bianca and Sierra Casady then, you would know that their parents were separated when Sierra was five and Bianca, three. Their mother, Christina Chalmers, was of Native American ancestry. Their father was interested in Native American religion. As little girls, they spent summers with him while he visited Indian Reservations and went on vision quests. Sierre and Bianca didn't enjoy these things like their father did but, came to appreciate these experiences later. So, That's that about the memories with fther part.

Now, about this Simon kick you guys got going on... I've never heard them say his name after 'Calling out his name' then again I don't listen to any other version of this unless it's the album version. But the first part of the song is talking about an ambulance. But, in the begining she sings 'It was Cinco de Mayo' so, what does that have to do with 'Pillow case on his head, No more breathing time, An ambulance sped, Sped round every corner, Calling out his name'. But I am almost certain that they are talking about someone who has been hung or has hung themselves and has stopped breathing in the ambulance. Their brothers name may be Simon. But, What I do know is that their is deceased whether or not his name is Simon, their brother is deceased. So, that could be what the begining is about. There is nothing about the Casady sisters' brother but I have always had the thought in my head that maybe he commited suicide...

So, with corrections made in the lyrics, here is my opinion...

It was Cinco de Mayo Pillow case on his head No more breathing time An ambulance sped Sped round every corner Calling out his name (Simon, their brother commited suicide by hanging himself with some sort of revelance to Cinco de Mayo. Whether that be the day he did it or because of it or that's what it reminds the girls of when they think of it. He did it with a pillow case over his head. Makes sense. That's what they use to do when they hung people way back when for dumb crimes so that the witnessess didn't have to see the face of the criminal. Sounds like they are saying that he was either already dead before he was in an ambulance or he stopped breathing when he got in the ambulance. Maybe the ambulance was calling out his name symbolicly like, the siren of the amublance haunts them.)

Shot a rabbit from the back seat window Sat and watched in the summer corn grow Ate icecream in a desert dream Got lost in fathers singing Too hot inside to hot outside Lazy days when you said lets go for a ride We'd sail on Spirit Lake Me, my pappy, and his lemonade (I'm wondering if their brother lived with their father in stead of with their mother because in the begining it seems like they are singing about their brother but they are also singing about their father and spending the summers with him. Hence 'Me, my PAPPY, and his lemonade'. but before that part they sing 'Lazy days when YOU said lets go for a ride'. Who is 'you'? Simon? If that is their brothers name. Maybe the whole song is really (if their brother did live with their father) about their brother and their life with him before he died. Maybe it's all just memories about their brother.)

Tim and tina were my parents' names They got engaged they were inflamed Seduced by the lie of butterflies How they shimmer, how they glimmer Those butterflies (Maybe the girls only thought their parents were together for such a short time because their parents were only lustful toward each other. Butterflies are usually symbolic for beauty 'Seduced by the lie of butterflies'. Suduced by the lie of beauty maybe?)

We seven kids, we almost died Nearly put to death by lightning strike Instead there was hot pink flashes in the sky We climb the rocks in snow and rain In search of magic powers To heal our mother's pain (Mothers pain... Their father must have made the domonating desicion to leave the relasionship. Or maybe he cheated. But I think this is saying that it was really hard on the kids and they tried to make their mother feel better about the separtion. Maybe thats why their brother is dead? Maybe that is a contribution to his death. Maybe.)

Shot a rabbit from the back seat window Sat and watched in the summer corn grow Ate icecream in a desert dream Got lost in fathers singing Too hot inside to hot outside Lazy days when you said lets go for a ride We'd sail on Spirit Lake Me, my pappy, and his lemonade

I think the whole song is about a divorce;

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

They split on the 5th of May (Cinco De Mayo) The father felt suffocated in the relationship The pillow case is metaphoric of the dreams he sacrificed. An ambulance represents urgency and crisis. Possibly the move calling his name and begging him to stay.

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'd sail on Spirit Lake Me, my pappy, and his serenade

This is all reminiscent of things things done with the father. Basically what would be missed.

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

This is fairly straight forward; telling the story of the parents; they fell for lust and the light of their flame. But, that turned into a lie.

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 kids felt responsible which is common with divorce. Lightening strikes represent possible violence and turmoil. Hot pink flashes in the sky can be symbolic of the sun rise, a new beginning. They climbed a metaphoric mountain trying to heal the pain their mother was going through.

Well that's my take on things :)

If I may make some corrections, I believe that instead of:

"We'll see some spirit thing, Simon's popping his lemonade."

it's actually,

"We'll sing on Spirit Lake, just me, my brother, and his lemonade."

"We saving kids" is "We seven kids"

"We climb the hell and snowing rains" is "We climb the hills in snowing rain"

& "God lust in father's singing" is "Got lost in father's singing"

i think at the beginning it says

it was cinco de mayo pillow case on his head

The best of childhood, the worst of childhood. Things are always contrasted in hindsight.

I have a question, and I thought it was appropriate to ask it hear. In the Live version of this song, sometimes Bianca (Coco) sings "Oh Simon..." Following the line - 'Calling out his name' Now, when I heard her say 'Oh Simon...' I immediately thought back to their other song, "Summer Breeze", where in the live version of this song, she sometimes also adds the name at the beginning - 'Simon, my brother, the first man I loved Or should I say he loved me'. This made me question who Simon is exactly... and whether what the lyrics mention in "Summer Breeze" is what happened between her and Simon, her brother... I don't know, can someone help clarify whether Simon and the events based around him are real,or whether he is rather a personification or made-up character for thematic symbolism...?

Sorry I'm not too good at explaining very well in words, but to me it's a sad story of an alcoholic and what it's doing to his family. Cinco de mayo being the most obvious reference, I think lemonade refers to alcohol, an innocent name the father calls his habit around his children. The chorus represents when the children were young and their father wasn't an alcoholic, the happy and carefree times when he would take them camping and spoil them with ice cream. The part with the parents I see as when they both young and hopeful, just starting their family with a bright future. But as time wore on, the bright future began to become marred with the harsh reality of dead end jobs, mortgage repayments, the never ending sinkhole of money that comes with having seven children. Looking for an escape, Tim turned to the drink to numb his senses. Being in this environment, they all had to grow up faster than any child should. Understanding the situation, the eldest of the children did their best to alleviate the burden from their mother who was equally affected by the father's spiralling alcoholism. The vicious cycle keeps turning until the father's desperation drove him to a fatal overdose. In the end, it is only the eldest child who remembers the simple happy times before father turned to the lemonade.

However I haven't seen the film clip so I may be wrong. Thoughts?

I have to admit the first verse throws me off completely, I can't tell if it's metaphor or not, but it sounds like the 'death' of a family member. I take it to symbolise the 'passing' of their father from their family, he left and there was a commotion, but the 'we seven kids, we almost died' later makes me wonder if it's another kid who suffocated.

I wonder if this song's purposefully blurring the lines between their own lives and a story (in the same way that Stuart Murdoch likes to write with characters, but sometimes throws in his own memories or people he knew).

Upon further listening I think, "Shut the barbed to the exit window" is "Shut the bar to the exit window".