Mr. Tinkertrain

"Mr. Tinkertrain"
Single by Ozzy Osbourne
from the album No More Tears
Released	July 1992
Recorded	1991
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	5:55
Label	Epic
Writer(s)	Ozzy Osbourne Zakk Wylde Randy Castillo
Producer	John Purdell Duane Baron
Ozzy Osbourne singles chronology
"Mama, I'm Coming Home" (1992) "Mr. Tinkertrain" (1992) "Changes" (1993)

"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.^[1]

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.'

Personnel

• Ozzy Osbourne - vocals
• Zakk Wylde - guitar
• Bob Daisley - bass
• Randy Castillo - drums

References

1. ^ "Billboard singles chart history-Ozzy Osbourne". http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Singles&model.vnuArtistId=5355&model.vnuAlbumId=942077. Retrieved February 17, 2009.