| "Tin Soldier" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Small Faces | ||||
| from the album The Autumn Stone | ||||
| B-side | "I Feel Much Better" | |||
| Released | 2 December 1967 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | 1967 Olympic Studios, London, England | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 3:06 | |||
| Label | Immediate | |||
| Writer(s) | Marriott/Lane | |||
| Producer | Marriott/Lane | |||
| Small Faces singles chronology | ||||
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"Tin Soldier" is a Rock song written by Steve Marriott (credited to Marriott/Lane). It was released on 2 December 1967, by the popular English band Small Faces. The song peaked at number nine in the UK singles chart.
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Tin Soldier was originally written by Steve Marriott for singer PP Arnold, but Marriott liked it so much he kept it himself. It was a song that he wrote to his first wife, Jenny Rylance. PP Arnold can be heard singing backing vocals on the song. The song signalled a return to the band's R&B roots after their previous forays into psychedelic rock and other musical experiments. When Tin Soldier was released the BBC informed the band that the last line of the song had to be removed from all TV and radio broadcasts, mistakenly believing that Marriott sang "sleep with you", when in fact the lyric is "sit with you". Marriott explained that the song was about getting into someone's mind - not their body.[1] Tin Soldier reached #9 in the UK Singles Chart and remains one of The Small Faces best known songs.
The song has been covered by Streetheart on their 1980 album Drugstore Dancer, Quiet Riot, Todd Rundgren, The Guess Who, Partisan and Marriott's other band Humble Pie.
A version of Tin Soldier was also released on the Humble Pie album Go For the Throat, which features Steve Marriott and was released on the Atco label in 1981. This single reached #58 in the US singles charts during 1980.
Lou Gramm, the lead singer of Foreigner, recorded the song on his first solo album in 1989.
In 1997, some thirty years after the song's original release, British music publication Mojo voted "Tin Soldier" the tenth best single of all time, in a readers' poll. The poll placed it ahead of anything by The Who or The Rolling Stones.[2] The song has also been much mentioned over the years by Paul Weller and featured in Noel Gallagher's personal all time top ten song list.[3]
The meaning of the song is about getting into somebody's mind - not their body. It refers to a girl (Jenny Rylance) I used to talk to all the time and she really gave me a buzz. The single was to give her a buzz in return and maybe other people as well. I dig it. There's no great message really and no physical scenes.—Steve Marriott
In October 2007 Australian musicians Tim Rogers (of You Am I) and Talei Wolfgramm (The Wolframm Sisters) performed a live cover of the track on Australian music quiz show Rockwiz. [1] Rogers is a self confessed fan of the band and much of his work with You Am I shows heavy influences.
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