Lemon (English translation) cover art

Lemon (English translation)

米津玄師 (Kenshi Yonezu) STRAY SHEEP English

Verse 1

If only it had been a dream, how much better it would have been.Even now I still dream of you.Like going back to get something I forgot,I brush the dust off my old memories.

Verse 2

That there is happiness that never comes back,is what you finally taught me.Even the dark past I hid without ever saying itwould stay dark forever without you.

Pre-Chorus

Surely I'll never be hurt any more than this,I know that much.

Chorus

Even the sorrow of that day, even the pain of that day,I loved all of it, with you by my side.The bitter scent of lemon that clings to my chest and won't leave,I can't go home until the rain stops.Even now, you are my light.

Verse 3

In the darkness I traced your back,and I remember its outline clearly.Each time I meet something I can't take in,all that keeps overflowing is my tears.

Pre-Chorus

What were you doing? What were you looking at?With a profile I didn't know.

Chorus

If somewhere you are now, like me,lost in tears, sitting in loneliness,then please, please forget about me,that's how much I sincerely wish for it.Even now, you are my light.

Bridge

More than I thought I did,I was in love with you.Since then, just like before,I can't breathe.We were so close,yet it feels like a lie.I can't forget you at all,that's the only thing I'm sure of.

Chorus

Even the sorrow of that day, even the pain of that day,I loved all of it, with you by my side.The bitter scent of lemon that clings to my chest and won't leave,I can't go home until the rain stops.Like one half of a fruit that has been cut apart,even now you are my light.
What the song means

"Lemon" is a lament from a narrator who is still haunted by a lost lover. The song opens with a wish that the separation were only a dream, and the narrator admits that the lover still appears in their dreams. Memories are treated like dusty objects that must be retrieved and cleaned, showing how the past keeps coming back uninvited. The lover taught the narrator that some happiness never returns, and without them even the narrator's hidden past feels permanently dark.

The story moves from regret toward a bittersweet acceptance. The pre-chorus notes that the narrator already knows the worst has happened, yet the chorus insists that even the painful days are cherished because they were shared. In the third verse, the narrator remembers touching the lover's back in the dark and recalls the outline of that body clearly, while also sensing that the lover has changed into someone unfamiliar. The second chorus turns outward: the narrator imagines the lover suffering somewhere too and selflessly asks to be forgotten. The bridge breaks down into fragmented lines, such as "I can't breathe," to convey how overwhelming the loss is.

The key images carry most of the meaning. The bitter lemon scent is a sensory memory that lingers and gives the song its title. The rain that must stop before the narrator can "go home" stands for grief that has not yet passed. Calling the lover "light" shows how they still provide hope even in absence. The final image of one half of a cut fruit suggests that the narrator feels incomplete, as if only half of their life remains.

Key phrases explained
苦いレモンの匂い
the bitter scent of lemon — A lingering sensory memory that gives the song its title and captures its bittersweet mood.
雨が降り止むまでは帰れない
I can't go home until the rain stops — Grief the narrator cannot yet leave behind; the rain stands for sorrow.
切り分けた果実の片方
one half of a cut fruit — Expresses the feeling of being incomplete after losing the lover.
昏い
dark, gloomy — Describes a past and a life that stay dim without the lover's presence.
Song info
Release date
2018-03-14
Album
STRAY SHEEP
Written by
室屋光一郎 (Koichiro Muroya), 米津玄師 (Kenshi Yonezu)
Produced by
米津玄師 (Kenshi Yonezu)

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