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Steam and Steel

by daviesteelman

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about

Family history tracks back to the heyday of rail travel in this prog-infused paean to old tech.

lyrics

Steam & Steel

My great grand-uncle was an engine-driver,
A quick-tempered man.
I see him as if on a winter’s morning
All swathed about in wisps and skeins of steam.

Perhaps I have inherited his passion;
From him I am learning how to feel;
More and more I see everything I know
In terms of steam and steel,
Steam and steel.

Fireman, feed the eager furnace.
Swing that shovel, feed the flames.
Stoke it ‘till the safety-valve is straining,
Stoke it ‘till we sense the boiler seethe.

And now we can release the genie,
A rush of steam, a surge of skidding wheels;
She settles to the rhythm,
The warm and driving pulse of steam and steel.

The fire and the water,
The working wheels,
The unbearable pressure,
Steam and steel
Steam and steel.

The thrust and glide of slick, sweet bearings.
Dirty hands, honest sweat.
Tender, so tender
Attending…

A whistle in the distance
Like a ghostly scream
The growing thunder, the driving storm,
A wild thresh of steel and steam.

The fire….

I imagine him beside me
describing how the world has lost its thrill
Now that his twin passions are extinguished
Steam and steel
Steam and steel
Steam….
Steel…

© David Mudie

credits

released March 1, 2021
Guitar solo: Steve Wells (who also created the image on which the artwork is based)

license

all rights reserved

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about

daviesteelman London, UK

David lives in south London, UK. He has been writing and recording (but rarely finishing!) music for a number of years. He plays keyboards, guitar and bass, and enjoys the process of recording, producing and mixing.
He has played keyboards in The Arrivists and The Othersides, both London-based bands, and regularly played in blues-rock jam nights in south London (before Covid! Those were the days).
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