If I Only Had a Heart was a song from "an old Earth movie", namely, The Wizard of Oz, which Ira Graves referenced when he met Data. As Data did not understand, Graves explained how the song was an allegory for Data's own predicament: "A mechanical man wants a heart but learns that he was Human and had one all along." (TNG: "The Schizoid Man")

Lyrics Edit

The song, If I Only Had a..., had three refrains using the same tune with different characters and lyrics. The tin man's was as follows.

When a man's an empty kettle
He should be on his mettle
And yet I'm torn apart
Just because I'm presumin'
That I could be kind-a human
If I only had a heart.

I'd be tender, I'd be gentle
And awful sentimental
Regarding love and art
I'd be friends with the sparrows
And the boy who shoots the arrows,
If I only had a heart.

Picture me ... a balcony ...
Above a voice sings low--

Wherefore art thou, Romeo?

I hear a beat.
How sweet!
Just to register emotion.
"Jealousy", "devotion"
And really feel the part
I could stay young and chipper
And I'd lock it with a zipper
If I only had a heart.