Tin Man
You wore black and white saddle shoes. They were the finishing touch on your Halloween costume, and they couldn’t have been more perfect. Every tin man should have a pair. Your costume took several days to put together. The kitchen table was covered with newspaper and glue, as each piece of armor was formed in layers and carefully shaped to fit around your torso, legs, and arms, including a hat that looked like a helmet. Everything was spray-painted silver, and when you put it on, we all stood in awe at the paper-mâché work of art. Your smile said it all, so proud, so happy with the new version of yourself. Blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and a heart bigger than the state of California—there was never a more beautiful tin man.
Your partner in crime, and trick or treating wasn’t a lion or a scarecrow. It was an Indian in baggy pants with a feathered headband and war paint. With bags in hand, they eagerly pranced out into the neighborhood. The first stop was on Sandhurst Avenue, Grandma’s house, for a picture, and of course a handful of goodies. From there they went door to door filling their bags with candy, always on the lookout for the apple with a razor blade hidden inside or any of the other evil tricks they had been warned about.
Side by side, the tin man and the Indian traveled through the ups and downs of childhood, then adolescence, into adulthood—Irish twins, born less than a year apart. Underwater races in the pool, backpacking for miles with blisters on their feet, rollerskating on the boardwalk along the beach, chasing boys, and working on their tans—two American girls traveled on a yellow brick road that went on forever.
There was never a doubt that the tin man had a heart, and it wasn’t just an ordinary heart, like the one you might find at the grocery store checkout line on Valentine’s Day. The tin man’s heart was like no other. It was resilient, able to handle things that would have crushed smaller hearts. When it was wounded, it didn’t get weaker but only stronger. The Indian was reckless with her heart, and sneaky too. She knew how to break the rules and not get caught. She even used the tin man as a shield more than once. But no matter what the Indian did, the tin man stayed true and held the line. Her beauty is a shining armor that glimmers in the sun. If you are lucky enough to call her mom, sister, daughter, grandma, wife, or friend, then you know how strong her love is, and how the heart of one tin man can hold enough love for everyone.
Song Lyrics
Tin Man
She had a smile from ear to ear
standing tall in her black and white saddle shoes
Specks of silver paint in her hair
And a sparkle in her baby blues
And while the kitchen table was still covered in glue
She had become someone new
She was a paper-mâché work of art
Looked like she walked right out of a storybook
In a California suburb on a Halloween night
She made her way through the neighborhood
A tiny tin man with an oversized heart
Who’d give you the world if she could
Chorus
And everybody knows how the story goes
How what we don’t have, is what we want most
And we spend our time chasing something we had all along
Searching for love, coming up empty-handed
Missing the one who’s standing right beside us
If our hearts had eyes we’d see, that love is all we need
And there’s a tin man out there who keeps me believing
In fairy tales and childhood dreams
You can be anything that you want to be
There’s a yellow brick road that leads
To all the faraway places you want to see
Everyone has a heart that beats
Just because you can see it doesn’t mean anything
That costume is long gone, but I’ll never forget that night
When the great big heart of one little girl made a tin man come to life
