♫ Tin Man ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, music, music history

Well, since I officially declared this “America (the band, not the country) Week” and since I’ve been wanting to play this one anyway, then fine tune your antennae and listen to this one that I last played way back in 2020 …

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 …toon-6

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

Discover more from Filosofa's Word

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

23 thoughts on “♫ Tin Man ♫”

  2. I remember this was all over the radio back in the day. I loved my clock radio as a kid… 🙂 Anyway, it is silly, but still great to hear again! Thanks, Jill.

    Liked by 3 people

  3. I’m enjoying your America week, Jill. I really liked America back in the day, especially the music and their harmonies. But I always thought most of their lyrics were close to nonsense, thrown together for the sake of the rhyme. Still, the songs offer good listening and some great memories.

    Liked by 4 people

  6. Pingback: ♫ Tin Man ♫ | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  8. Not my favourite of theirs, and I’m surprised it was such a big hit single over there, as to my ears this has ‘album track’ written all over it! But I’m enjoying America Week though 😊

    Liked by 3 people

Comments are closed.