Cherry Blossom Clinic

"Cherry Blossom Clinic"
Single by The Move
from the album Move
B-side	Vote for Me
Released	1968
Recorded	1967
Genre	Psychedelic pop
Length	2.35
Label	Regal Zonophone
Writer(s)	Roy Wood
The Move singles chronology
"Flowers in the Rain" (1967) 'Cherry Blossom Clinic' "Fire Brigade" (1968)

"Cherry Blossom Clinic" is a song by British rock band The Move. The song tells the story of a man slipping into madness and what he imagines as he hallucinates in his clinic room. The song features a string and brass arrangement by Tony Visconti.

Although scheduled as the next single after the top 10 hit "Flowers in the Rain", the release was cancelled for fear of causing more offence after the postcard used to promote the previous single. "Cherry Blossom Clinic" was included on The Move's first album, but its b-side "Vote for Me" was not released until 1998.

The song was later revisited and re-recorded by The Move and, under the title "Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited", was included on their second album Shazam. This version is less psychedelic, more progressive and does not include the wah-wah guitar or the string and brass arrangements.

The line about a "teatray in the sky" comes from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.^[1]

Legacy

"Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited" is played at the beginning of DJ Terre T's long-running show of the same name on WFMU.

References

1. ^ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter VII, "A Mad Tea-Party" [1]. The Mad Hatter has rewritten "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat" and used this line.