A decorative lighting apparatus includes a decorative light strand having first, second, and third wires, each with a plurality of lamps coupled in series therealong, and a return wire coupled to ends of the first, the second, and the third wires. Each lamp of the plurality of lamps has a first light-emitting diode (LED) device coupled in parallel and in reverse orientation with a second LED device. The first, the second, and the third wires are positioned together such that each lamp of the first, the second, and the third pluralities are positioned adjacent to each other but sufficiently separated such that little or no color mixing occurs between the lamps. The apparatus also includes a controller adapted to control the plurality of lamps to provide different user-selectable color schemes in various simultaneously-illuminated combinations of color.