Garden of Earthly Delights

{{about|the XTC song|the painting|The Garden of Earthly Delights|other uses|Garden of Earthly Delights (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox song

| name =

| cover =

| caption =

| alt =

| type =

| artist = XTC

| album = Oranges & Lemons

| released = {{Start date|1989|2|27|df=yes}}

| format =

| recorded = 1988

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Psychedelic

| length = {{Duration|m=5|s=02}}

| label = Virgin

| writer = Andy Partridge

| producer = Paul Fox

| misc = {{Audio sample

| type = song

| file = Garden of Earthly Delights - XTC.ogg

}}

}}

"Garden of Earthly Delights" is a song written by Andy Partridge of the English rock band XTC, released as the opening track on their 1989 album Oranges & Lemons. Partridge wrote the song as a children's guide to the world dedicated to his son Harry Partridge. He intended it to sound "like this crazy tapestry of camels and elephants and belly dancers and all the Arabian Nights, interwoven -- a big ornate Eastern rug come to life." It features Arabic modalities and a guitar solo played through two harmonizers set to different intervals.

==Background and lyrics==

File:The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch High Resolution 2.jpg, from which the song derives its title]]

File:Anton Chekhov with bow-tie sepia image.jpg is given a passing reference in the song's lyric]]

Andy Partridge wrote "Garden of Earthly Delights" as a children's guide to the world{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/xtc/albums/album/260407/rid/6211360/ |title=XTC: Oranges & Lemons |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=23 March 1989 |access-date=18 June 2011 |last=Azerrad |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Azerrad |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080203204606/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/xtc/albums/album/260407/review/6211360 |archive-date=3 February 2008}} dedicated to his son Harry Partridge. He said the song stemmed from "a little musical figure" he found playing a guitar's D string, which led to the lyrics and Arabic feel. Partridge had used the name as a working title for the theme to the 1983 film Ocean's Daughter. In the liner notes to Fuzzy Warbles, he wrote that the theme's melody "was from a song I was working on [at the time] called 'Garden of Earthly Delights'."{{cite AV media notes| title = Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Edition| others= Andy Partridge| year = 2006| type = liner| publisher = Ape Records}} In a 2007 phone interview, he refused to answer whether the lyric "can't all think like Chekov" refers to the Star Trek character, Pavel Chekov, or the Russian playwright, Anton Chekhov.{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |last2=Partridge |first2=Andy |author-link2=Andy Partridge |title=Andy discusses 'Garden of Earthly Delights' |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20070520.html |website=Chalkhills |access-date=1 November 2018 |date=20 May 2007}} In Neville Farmer's 1998 biography Song Stories, it is stated that Partridge had the playwright in mind.{{cite book|last1=Farmer|first1=Neville|title=XTC: Song Stories: The Exclusive Authorized Story Behind the Music|date=1998|publisher=Helter Skelter Publishing|location=London|isbn=190092403X|pages=143, 239|author-link=Neville Farmer}}