The Tin Man (Kenny Chesney song)

"The Tin Man" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Kenny Chesney. It was the second single released from his 1994 debut album In My Wildest Dreams. Six years later, Chesney re-recorded the song for his first Greatest Hits compilation album and released this recording in July 2001 as the album's third single.

"The Tin Man"
Single by Kenny Chesney
from the album In My Wildest Dreams (1994)
All I Need to Know (1995)
Greatest Hits (2000)
B-side"I Finally Found Somebody" (1994 version only)[1]
ReleasedApril 19, 1994
July 23, 2001 (re-release)
GenreCountry
Length3:28
3:37 (re-release)
LabelCapricorn (1994)
BNA (2001)
Songwriter(s)Kenny Chesney
Stacey Slate
David Lowe
Producer(s)Barry Beckett (1994)
Buddy Cannon and Norro Wilson (2001)
Kenny Chesney singles chronology
"Whatever It Takes"
(1993)		 "The Tin Man"
(1994)		 "Somebody's Callin'"
(1994)
Kenny Chesney (2001) singles chronology
"Don't Happen Twice"
(2001)		 "The Tin Man"
(2001)		 "Young"
(2001)

Content

"The Tin Man" is a ballad about a brokenhearted man who wishes that he were the Tin Woodman so that he "wouldn't have a heart" and thus not feel the emotions that he is feeling.

The song is set in the key of E major with a main chord pattern of E-C♯m-A-B.[2]

Critical reception

In a 1995 review, Phil Kloer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution called the song "one of the better pieces of writing to come out of Nashville this year or last."[3] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that the song was not "quite as shellacked with gloss" as Chesney's later ballads.[4] Billboard's review praised Chesney's vocals while taking a negative view of the songwriting: "[H]e is hitting his stride as a singer, even if The Wizard of Oz references here are a little tired."[5]

The original version later appeared on Chesney's first BNA Records album, All I Need to Know. In his review of this album, Erlewine wrote that the song "deftly reworks a cliché" and "captur[es] the blend of country instrumentation and anthemic pop that became his signature and made him a star."[6]

Chesney re-recorded the song for his 2000 Greatest Hits album.[1] This newly recorded version was the b-side to the album's first single, "I Lost It", before serving as the third release from it.[1]

Music video

The music video for "The Tin Man" was directed by Tom Bevins, and premiered on CMT on April 23, 1994, when CMT named it a "Hot Shot". A video for the 2001 re-recording was to have been directed by Trey Fanjoy; this video would have been shot on September 11, 2001 in front of the World Trade Center, but label executives canceled the shoot only a few days prior after determining that the song did not need a video.[7]

Chart performance

The original recording of "The Tin Man" entered the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts dated for the week ending May 14, 1994, peaking at number 70 with a six-week run on the charts.[1] The 2001 version first charted on the week ending July 28, 2001, spending twenty weeks on that chart and peaking at number 19.[1] It also peaked at number 7 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.[1]

Chart (1994) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[8] 70
Chart (2001) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[8] 19
US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100[1] 7

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 91. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
  2. "'The Tin Man' sheet music". musicnotes.com. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  3. Kloer, Phil (30 November 1995). "The latest in music, videos and books". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. pp. D4. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "In My Wildest Dreams review". Allmusic. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  5. Flick, Larry, ed. (20 April 1994). "Single reviews: Kenny Chesney: The Tin Man", Billboard 106 (18): 69.
  6. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "All I Need to Know review". Allmusic. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  7. Brad Schmitt (September 12, 2001). "Crash at NYC site leaves Chesney asking, 'what if?'". The Tennessean. pp. 17A. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  8. "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
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