The Tin Man (Kenny Chesney song)
| "The Tin Man" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||
| Single by Kenny Chesney | ||||||||||
| from the album In My Wildest Dreams (1994) Greatest Hits (2000) | ||||||||||
| B-side | "I Finally Found Somebody" (1994 version only)[1] | |||||||||
| Released |
April 19, 1994 July 23, 2001 (re-release) | |||||||||
| Genre | Country | |||||||||
| Length |
3:28 3:37 (re-release) | |||||||||
| Label |
Capricorn (1994) BNA (2001) | |||||||||
| Writer(s) |
Kenny Chesney Stacey Slate David Lowe | |||||||||
| Producer(s) |
Barry Beckett (1994) Buddy Cannon and Norro Wilson (2001) | |||||||||
| Kenny Chesney singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"The Tin Man" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Kenny Chesney. It was the third single release from his 1994 debut album In My Wildest Dreams. Six years later, Chesney re-recorded the song for his first Greatest Hits album and released this recording in July 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.
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."[2] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that the song was not "quite as shellacked with gloss" as Chesney's later ballads.[3] 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."[4]
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."[5]
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 for the 1994 version, directed by Tom Bevins. A video for the 2001 version was scheduled to be filmed in the afternoon of September 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center in New York City, but was canceled because of equipment delays.[6] The cancellation allowed Chesney and the video's filming crew to avoid the September 11 attacks.[6]
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)[7] | 70 |
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[7] | 19 |
| US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100[1] | 7 |
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 91. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
- ↑ Kloer, Phil (30 November 1995). "The latest in music, videos and books". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. pp. D4. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
- ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "In My Wildest Dreams review". Allmusic. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
- ↑ Flick, Larry, ed. (20 April 1994). "Single reviews: Kenny Chesney: The Tin Man", Billboard 106 (18): 69.
- ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "All I Need to Know review". Allmusic. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
- 1 2 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Kenny Chesney at Gibson Guitar Corporation website.
- 1 2 "Kenny Chesney – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Kenny Chesney.