Meaning of “U-Turn (Lili)” by AaRON
AaRON is a musical duo made up of Olivier Coursier and Simon Buret, the latter of whom serves as lead vocalist. Throughout the years, i.e. from 2007 to 2020, they have released four studio albums and proven especially popular in their homeland of France.
“U-Turn (Lili)”, which was released in 2007, is their debut single and in a way most-successful one also, being their only to chart in France as well as neighboring Belgium and Switzerland. This song also made its way onto the soundtrack of Ja Vais Bien, Ne T’en Fais Pas (aka “Don’t Worry, I’m Fine”), the 2006 French movie starring Mélanie Laurent.
“U-Turn” was collectively written by AaRON, whose moniker is an acronym that stands for Artificial Animals Riding on Neverland. That latter phrase is also the name of the album, i.e. their debut LP, from which this track is derived.
The Lyrics of “U-Turn (Lili)”
This is a love song, with a twist. On one hand, it’s very much clear that the vocalist is smitten by Lili. Indeed, Simon even goes as far as to express his willingness to hold the addressee down no matter where life may take her.
Furthermore, he calls her “the best paint life ever made”, which is one of the more impressive lines we’ve come across in terms of a vocalist admiring the beauty of his romantic interest.
But what’s also to keep in mind is what compelled him to use a color-related metaphor to begin with. And that’s due to Buret earlier warning Lili not to “become a ghost without no colour”. In other words, while half of the sentiments being expressed read romantic, the other half are indicative of his concern for her overall wellbeing, i.e. physical health. And that’s because, as implied from the onset, under the vocalist’s estimation Lili has a problem with drugs.
“Lili, take another walk out of your fake world
Please put all the drugs out of your hand
You’ll see that you can breath without no back up
So much stuff you got to understand”
So the easiest way of describing this piece is as the apple of the singer’s eye being addicted to certain medications. After all, not all of such addictions lead to a decrease in physical beauty, at least not initially.
But more to the point is Simon being able to perceive the inner Lili, the side of her persona that doesn’t possess such a dependency. That’s the girl that he’s seemingly in love with, i.e. the addressee devoid of her drug habit, despite Simon apparently empathizing with what may compel her to develop such a habit in the first place.
Or as inferred, the vocalist believes that he is the perfect partner for Lili. That is to say that not only does he understand her, but Simon also presents himself as being able and willing to guide her to a better place – to a life of edification that doesn’t involve a dependency on such substances.
And on that note, it should be pointed out that lyrically, it is never actually specified that the vocalist’s affection for the addressee is romance-based (though that can be soundly taken as the implication).
