Mr. Tinkertrain
Encyclopedia
"Mr. Tinkertrain" is the first song on the 1991 Ozzy Osbourne
heavy metal
album No More Tears
. The single peaked at number 34 on Billboard'
s Album Rock Tracks chart.
Its lyrics are about child abuse
, loss of virginity through rape
, and pedophilia
, sung from the point-of-view of the perpetrator rather than the victim.
The song begins with a sound clip of children playing together taken from the movie Sometimes They Come Back
(notice the "where is she" line said by a little girl that can be heard in Scene 11 of the Sometimes They Come Back DVD as the son is walking down the street). This introduction is suddenly interrupted with a heavily distorted guitar, before Ozzy delivers the line "Would you like some sweeties, little girl?", a line stereotypically associated with child kidnappers.
As the song progresses the unknown child is invited into a "palace full of fantasy," with "the kind of toys you've never seen, man-made and a bit obscene!"
The chorus of the song involves Ozzy telling his victim to "come along and play my game," telling her "you'll never be the same." This is likely a reference to the loss of the girl's virginity and her resulting mental scarring.
In the music video
for this song, a clip is taken from Fritz Lang
's early film noir
M
. It is appropriate as the film concerns a murderer who preys on young girls. It then erupts into a stage scene where Osbourne is singing at a concert. During his performance of the song, he sings of a 'one-way ticket to take you to the other side.'
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
album No More Tears
No More Tears
- 2002 Reissue :- Personnel :Musicians* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals* Zakk Wylde – guitar* Bob Daisley – bass* Randy Castillo – drums* John Sinclair – keyboards, pianoAdditional personnel* Mike Inez – inspiration, musical direction...
. The single peaked at number 34 on Billboard'
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Album Rock Tracks chart.
Its lyrics are about child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, loss of virginity through rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, and pedophilia
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
, sung from the point-of-view of the perpetrator rather than the victim.
The song begins with a sound clip of children playing together taken from the movie Sometimes They Come Back
Sometimes They Come Back
"Sometimes They Come Back" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 1974 issue of Cavalier and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift.-Setting:...
(notice the "where is she" line said by a little girl that can be heard in Scene 11 of the Sometimes They Come Back DVD as the son is walking down the street). This introduction is suddenly interrupted with a heavily distorted guitar, before Ozzy delivers the line "Would you like some sweeties, little girl?", a line stereotypically associated with child kidnappers.
As the song progresses the unknown child is invited into a "palace full of fantasy," with "the kind of toys you've never seen, man-made and a bit obscene!"
The chorus of the song involves Ozzy telling his victim to "come along and play my game," telling her "you'll never be the same." This is likely a reference to the loss of the girl's virginity and her resulting mental scarring.
In the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for this song, a clip is taken from Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
's early film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
M
M (1931 film)
M is a 1931 German drama-thriller directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou. It was Lang's first sound film, although he had directed more than a dozen films previously....
. It is appropriate as the film concerns a murderer who preys on young girls. It then erupts into a stage scene where Osbourne is singing at a concert. During his performance of the song, he sings of a 'one-way ticket to take you to the other side.'
Personnel
- Ozzy OsbourneOzzy OsbourneJohn Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
- vocals - Zakk WyldeZakk WyldeZachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,...
- guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker... - Bob DaisleyBob DaisleyRobert John "Bob" Daisley is an Australian musician, bassist and lyricist who has performed in genres of rock, blues, R&B, hard rock and metal.-Early career:...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Randy CastilloRandy CastilloRandolpho Francisco Castillo was best known as Ozzy Osbourne's drummer during the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, and later as drummer for Mötley Crüe, from 1999-2002.-Early years:...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....