Perhaps more than any other song, the lyrics to "Tin Man" have been scrutinized by America fans and general observers alike. From Internet chat rooms to TV quiz shows, people have wondered what lyrics like "Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man that he didn't, didn't already have" meant. Over a decade later, Dewey looked back at the unorthodox songwriting method which produced this memorable song:
Great English, that one... isn't it? Good grammar. That line was just lifted straight off the "Wizard Of Oz." In the end all of those characters already had brains and courage and a heart, and so on. And of course Tin Man was the heart. Essentially I do use words very haphazardly. I just put words together and in a lot of cases it's like word association... I hope there's always a positive side to all my songs... No message as such, no, it's just flighty, colorful words. Certainly if that one line suggests that we all have something within us that we may be looking for, then that is the message, to seek within. But I don't like to get too heavy on any of that stuff...
@leonardo217 Thanks. That makes perfect sense. (But anyone who has ever taken LSD would agree, it still kind of sounds like the way things look and feel on an acid trip.)
@leonardo217 Thanks. That makes perfect sense. (But anyone who has ever taken LSD would agree, it still kind of sounds like the way things look and feel on an acid trip.)
Perhaps more than any other song, the lyrics to "Tin Man" have been scrutinized by America fans and general observers alike. From Internet chat rooms to TV quiz shows, people have wondered what lyrics like "Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man that he didn't, didn't already have" meant. Over a decade later, Dewey looked back at the unorthodox songwriting method which produced this memorable song: Great English, that one... isn't it? Good grammar. That line was just lifted straight off the "Wizard Of Oz." In the end all of those characters already had brains and courage and a heart, and so on. And of course Tin Man was the heart. Essentially I do use words very haphazardly. I just put words together and in a lot of cases it's like word association... I hope there's always a positive side to all my songs... No message as such, no, it's just flighty, colorful words. Certainly if that one line suggests that we all have something within us that we may be looking for, then that is the message, to seek within. But I don't like to get too heavy on any of that stuff...
Source: Comprehensive History: America Revisited accessbackstage.com/america/hist01.htm
@leonardo217 Thanks. That makes perfect sense. (But anyone who has ever taken LSD would agree, it still kind of sounds like the way things look and feel on an acid trip.)
@leonardo217 Thanks. That makes perfect sense. (But anyone who has ever taken LSD would agree, it still kind of sounds like the way things look and feel on an acid trip.)