Thank goodness for the Strings Attached project since Twisted Steel is unreleased in studio form and it was performed for the first time. The song was also considered for Shrunken Heads but it didn't make the cut and it was not fully completed.
The song is an incisive observation about the tragic events of 9/11. Hunter said no one should write a song about this tragic incident so he did just that. It is a simple and honest sentiment written as a letter to a cousin's mom. Trudi's second cousin, Cookie, was on the phone to her mum as the planes hit. Hunter rang somebody a few days later and by mistake reached Cookie's mum; she could hardly speak. Trudi awakened Ian to see the second plane hit and son Jesse sat on a roof a quarter of a mile away from his job on 23rd Street.
The song came too late for Rant, although it may have fit well on that release, and didn't fit Shrunken Heads. Hunter states:
And if I cry, it makes no difference
And if I don't, I lose my innocence
These are terrific lines and Ian makes it much more personal and impactful with the lines:
I can't imagine how a mother must feel
[With] twisted steel, twisted steel twisted Steel
Boldly, Hunter rejects a religious justification:
This wasn't sacred, this was profane
You took off and you took aim
I saw you laughin' on the newsreel
Twisted steel, twisted steel
The lyrics are much more personal with the idea of realizing the pain of loss for a mother:
Twisted people, twisted minds
Twisted logic, twisted times
I can't imagine how a mother must feel
Twisted steel, twisted steel
Hunter says the song came to him as a simple and honest sentiment. Perhaps the reason that the song seems so personal is that it was written about wife Trudi's second cousin, Cookie, who was killed. The song is written as a letter to Cookie's mother.
Ian Hunter On Track for Sonicbond Publishing, The DoctorOfDigital@pm.me
Twisted Steel
(Ian Hunter)
Well, there ain't nothin' I can do
To take the pain away from you
Another one lost on the battlefield
of twisted steel, twisted steel
There ain't nothin' I can say
To help you take the hurt away
I can't believe that this is real
Twisted steel, twisted steel
And if I cry, it makes no difference
And if I don't, I lose my innocence
I can't imagine how a mother must feel
[With] twisted steel, twisted steel
Can you hear your mother callin'?
Can you hear your mother callin'?
Can you hear your mother ca-- she kneels
Twisted steel, twisted steel
This wasn't sacred, this was profane
You took off and you took aim
I saw you laughin' on the newsreel
Twisted steel, twisted steel
Can you hear your mother callin'?
Can you hear your mother callin'?
Can you hear your mother, she kneels
Oh, twisted steel, twisted steel
Twisted steel, twisted steel
Twisted steel, twisted steel
Twisted steel, twisted steel
Twisted people, twisted minds
Twisted logic, twisted times
I can't imagine how a mother must feel
Twisted steel, twisted steel
Twisted Steel(which is about the events of 9/11) shows Ian as incisively observant as ever,
Twisted Steel (live 29/30th January 2002) | 3:10 | Unreleased in studio form. This live version (recorded Sentrum Scene, Oslo Norway) was originally issued on Strings Attached. |
Twisted Steel (live 19th May 2002) | 4:03 | This live version (recorded Life Cafe, Manchester England) was issued on Bag Of Tricks (Vol 2) (box set only). |
Twisted Steel (live 28th May 2004) | 3:47 | This live version (recorded The Astoria, London England) was released on The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nuthin' But The Truth. Not on the box set. |
Twisted Steel (live 2007) | 3:41 | This live version (recorded at an unknown venue) was on the CD-single version of When The World Was Round. |
Twisted Steel (live 2nd March 2008) | 3:20 | This live version (recorded at the Mick Jagger Centre, Dartford England) was issued on Acoustic Shadows (box set only)/ |