when i was just a lad of ten my father said to me come here and take a lesson from the lovely lemon tree don t put your faith in love my boy my father said to me i fear you ll find that love is like the lovely lemon tree chorus lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet but the fruit of the lemon is impossible to eat lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet but the fruit of the lemon is impossible to eat one day beneath the lemon tree my love and i did lie a girl so sweet that when she smiled the stars rose in the sky we passed that summer lost in love beneath the lemon tree the music of her laughter hid my father s words from me chorus one day she left without a word she took away the sun and in the dark she left behind i knew what she had done she left me for another it s a common tale but true a sadder man but wiser now i sing these words to you