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Twisting my melon man?

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on March 15, 2005

In Reply to: Twisting my melon man? posted by Jo on March 15, 2005

: Where did this phrase first come from? Was it used before the Happy Mondays song?

According to an on-line review of the Happy Mondays' 1990 album "Pills, Thrills, and Bellyaches", it would seem that they made it up. The reviewer refers to the line as "still baffling":

"But the show belongs to Paul's brother Shaun, one of the most loveable rogues of modern times. Singing lines like "God rains it E's all on me" and the still baffling "Your twisting my melon man" on the timeless "Step On" (the song to which every indie kid learnt to dance to) he talks his way through with a swagger matched only by Ian Brown."

Now, depending on the Happy Mondays' musical influences, the line could be a play on the standard blues theme "squeeze my lemon". What does "squeeze my lemon" mean? Draw your own conclusion from this stanza from Led Zeppelin's The Lemon Song:

"Squeeze me baby, till the juice runs down my leg
Squeeze me baby, till the juice runs down my leg
The way you squeeze my lemon,
I..I'm gonna fall right out of bed, yeah."

It wouldn't be the only time "lemon" has become "melon" in the music world. There was a group called Blind Melon which debuted in 1992, and we can presume that their name is a tribute to blues legend Blind Lemon Jefferson.

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