Happy Valentine’s Day! This weekend we will be making our way to Menton for the Lemon Festival. We first heard about it thanks to our daughter based on the books she read. This reminded me of a song by Fools Garden that went viral when I was a kid with a variety of versions of the songs.

Fools Garden, a German pop rock band formed in 1991 by Peter Freudenthaler and Volker Hinkel, achieved worldwide fame with their hit single “Lemon Tree” in 1995. The song, featured on their third studio album “Dish of the Day,” became an international sensation, topping charts in multiple countries including Germany, Austria, Ireland, and Sweden. Peter Freudenthaler, the lead vocalist, reportedly wrote “Lemon Tree” on a Sunday afternoon while waiting for his girlfriend who didn’t show up. The catchy melody, combined with its melancholic lyrics, resonated with listeners globally, propelling Fools Garden to unexpected stardom. Despite the massive success of “Lemon Tree,” which has garnered over 563 million streams on Spotify alone, the band struggled to replicate this level of commercial triumph with subsequent releases. Nevertheless, Fools Garden continues to perform and record music, having released nine studio albums and played over a thousand live performances throughout their career.