Tin Man
Written by Dewey Bunnell, ©1974
Found on Holiday, History, America Live, America's Gold, Live In Central Park, America In Concert (85), The Very Best Of America, America In Concert (95), Horse With No Name, You Can Do Magic, Premium Gold Collection, Centenary Collection, Greatest Hits, Live, Highway, Hits You Remember Live, The Definitive America, The Complete Greatest Hits, The Grand Cayman Concert, and Here & Now.

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 bright color
Image going down, down, down, down
Soapsuds green like bubbles

Oh, 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 bright color
Image going down, down, down, down
Soapsuds 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

Highway Highlight (from the box set booklet) Bunnell's "Tin Man" was released as Holiday's first single, reaching #4 in the fall of '74. The song was a return to the soaring melodicism of "Ventura Highway," and it reestablished America on the airwaves. Still, Dewey has mixed feelings about "Tin Man": "The song is jumbled in my mind--there's not a lot of cohesiveness. I had really liked the chords, those major-sevenths. It was up and kind of bouncy, with a little Latin-y feel to it. That's how it is: I get the chords and the melody, and then I have to get some words." Bunnell unravels the lyric as follows: "My favorite move of all time was probably The Wizard Of Oz, it still amazes me how great that movie is. And here's my classic use of bad grammar: 'Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man...' Another god-awful use of the language. But it served the purpose. But that was really the only cohesive thought I had. How do I convey that? The first verse--I guess that was a little bit of paranoia. We were being exposed to more and more sophisticated people, and there were times that I found myself with my foot in my mouth, saying things I wish I hadn't. The first verse is very ambiguous. 'The Tropic of Sir Gallahad' is a whole other image to me about being chivalrous or a gentleman. 'Spinning round, round, round, smoke glass stain bright colors...'--that's all just purely kaleidoscopic imagery. The melody definitely dictated those words, because it was a swirling, rising thing." "Tin Man" almost didn't become a hit, Beckley recalls: "The single had stalled, and John Hartmann [the band's new manager] went in and did this full-on rant with Warners and kick-started it, and it went back up the charts again, which is very hard to do. John was not willing to let this die."