This one popped into my head tonight as I was working on my Jolly Monday post, and one of the cartoons just seemed to cry out for me to play this song …
Funny how that works, isn’t it?
This is a 1974 song by the pop rock band America. It was written by band member Dewey Bunnell and produced by George Martin, who also plays the piano part on the recorded version.
The song’s title and some of its lyrics refer to the Tin Woodman from The Wizard of Oz. Songwriter Bunnell says …
“My favorite movie, I guess. I always loved it as a kid. Very obscure lyrics. Great grammar – ‘Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man.’ It’s sort of a poetic license.”
Released as the first single from their album Holiday, Tin Man became the band’s fourth top-ten hit in the US, spending three weeks at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1974. The song reached number one on the Billboard easy listening chart in October of that year. In the UK, the song was relegated to the B-side of another album track, Mad Dog, released in July, but both sides failed to chart.
Tin Man
America
Sometimes late
When things are real
And people share the gift of gab
Between themselves
Some are quick
To take the bait
And catch the perfect prize
That waits among the shelves
But Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man
That he didn’t, didn’t already have
And cause never was the reason for the evening
Or the tropic of Sir Galahad
So please believe in me
When I say I’m spinning ’round, ’round, ’round, ’round
Smoke glass stain’d bright colors
Image going down, down, down, down
Soapsud green like bubbles
Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man
That he didn’t, didn’t already have
And cause never was the reason for the evening
Or the tropic of Sir Galahad
So please
Believe in me
When I say I’m spinning’ round, ’round, ’round, ’round
Smoke glass stain’d bright colors
Image going down, down, down, down
Soapsud green like bubbles
No, Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man
That he didn’t, didn’t already have
And cause never was the reason for the evening
Or the tropic of Sir Galahad
So please believe in me
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Dewey Bunnell
Tin Man lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc
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Good choice Jill.
I thought I had not heard this one until the line ‘the topic of Sir Galahad’ tweak a memory, which in my head was supposed to belong to another song (the details of which I have forgotten…must look into that)
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I read that nobody is quite sure what that line was supposed to mean, if anything! Glad you liked the song!
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Fits well in the song though doesn’t it? 😃
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Definitely!
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I love lines like that, ones which have no immediate relevance but the writer must have put there if only ‘because they liked it’.
They set the imagination off.
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Heh heh … it takes little to set your imagination off, Sir Roger!
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Yeah, that’s be true.
It’s a weird busy place between my ears, I would like to think my last words would be.
‘Hold on! I’m not finished yet!’
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Oh heck, those will be my last words too, and I’m not nearly as creative and talented as you!
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Aww thanks 😌
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Great minds and all that…again!! In the wee hours of Monday morning I was typing out one of my W & W emails to a “Best Friend”. I almost added something about an America song that indirectly had a connection to another singer and song, but I had already indulged my P for L and I was too tired! The song was from the early 70’s “Homecoming” album and the song was “Ventura Highway”. More specifically it was the last stanza of the song that was also written by Dewey Bunnell : “Wishin’ on a falling star, Waitin’ for the early train. Sorry boy, but I’ve been hit by ‘purple rain’.” Hmm, now where else are those two words found? America is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, although Covid-19 caused the duo of Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Becker to cancel their concerts. They had kind of lost steam when Dan Peek left the trio in 1977, but I loved the sort of a comeback July 1982 album, “View from the Ground”. There were two hits on that album but one, “You Can Do Magic”, is my all time favorite America song. America has had many great songs over the years, “Tin Man” is one of them! WHAK!! Thank-you!
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What a special friend you are, writing a W&W at nearly 4:00 a.m.! Your friend is a lazy biddy but will respond soon!!! Yes, great minds … we do seem to have been thinking along the same path! Hmmmm … Purple Rain, eh? Rings a bell … Glad you liked “Tin Man” and I’ll see what I can do about magic … WHAK!
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Goos song.
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I’m glad you liked it! I hope it made up for some of the pain my earlier posts caused you.
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Ha! Thanks Jill.
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Luv it! ❤
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Jill, this made me smile. Look at my comment on your Jolly post. We loved the trio America. They had dozens of good songs. I think I liked “Been through the desert on a horse with no name” the best, but “I need you,” is a close second. Keith
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Please excuse my intrusion…if memory serves me correctly, and at times it does not, I seem to recall “A Horse with No Name” being the song of the day just a few months after I became a Jill follower in April 2018. I think that you commented and I did not. That could have been due to…if you cannot say something nice, etc. I do love “I Need You” and think that it was the best song on their debut album “America”. Thank-you!
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As always, your memory serves you quite well. It was July 25, 2018, and yes, Keith commented and you spoke with your silence. 😉
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I noticed it and grinned when I read your comment this morning. “Horse with No Name” is my favourite of theirs … I think I played that a year or so ago. Maybe time to redux it soon!
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Love this song.
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I’m so glad!
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Like America and this is one of their best. Thanks, Jill
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I’m so glad! My favourite of theirs is “Horse With No Name.”
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I like that one as well.
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