It was written by band member Dewey Bunnell and produced by George Martin, who also plays the piano part on the recorded version.

"[4] Dan Peek, who described "Tin Man" as "quintessential Dewey, easy stream of consciousness with a major seventh acoustic bed", said that Bunnell "actually begged us not to record the song.

"[5] Released as the first single from Holiday, "Tin Man" became the band's fourth top-ten hit in the US, spending three weeks at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1974.

[4] In the UK, the song was relegated to the B-side of another album track, "Mad Dog", released in July, but neither side charted.

The group Incognito also recorded the song on their album Bees + Things + Flowers (2006) which features singer Carleen Anderson.