Mr STAINLESS STEEL
©Trev Teasdel Coventry 1968 / Revised April 1974
(Chorus)
Mr Stainless Steel,
He can wheel and deal.
He’s as cold as a knife and fork,
And as tight as a Champagne cork -
Mr Stainless Steel. Mr Stainless Steel.
He has no feelings as he goes about his dealings.
He hasn’t any soul and his wife brings in the coal.
Never seen him melancholy,
Always evergreen as holly.
Drop upon his toe a brick,
He won’t feel it cos his skin’s too thick.
(Chorus)
You can’t insult him
His feelings like gold vaulted.
Life can beat most people down
He always seems to stand his ground.
Always appears shiny and strong,
Always ready to bang his gong.
His nerves are made of finest steel,
His life would make lesser men congeal.
......................
Originally written in 1968 by Trev Teasdel at age 17. The lyric began as a sketch of a certain kind of working man or maybe even the boss — emotionless, resilient, and shaped by the machinery around him. “Stainless Steel” came from a Russell Hobbs kettle label I was repairing at DF Gibbs next to the General Wolfe in Foleshill while an apprentice, but also echoed the stiff, stoic ideals of the time — men built to endure, never bend. It was partly inspired by case studies in The Psychologist magazine, which also inspired other character led lyrics like ‘Mr Toil and Strife’ and ‘Mrs Stress and Strain’ which began to emerge as composite figures of postwar working-class life.
Written as a potential pop song at the time but with no connection to that world, I set it music later with the guitar but the cassette recording has been lost so, Mr Stainless Steel has now been reimagined for Mira and the Magnetic Ghosts — a ghost in the machine of masculinity. Equal parts satire and sorrow, it's a portrait of a man made tough by a world that doesn't allow softness. Mr STAINLESS STEEL.
The original cassette version has been lost but this is a version by Mira and the Magnetic Ghosts 2025.
The Same Version on Reverbnation
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