Black Wings Lyrics

Lyric discussion by TheSoberPirate 

Cover art for Black Wings lyrics by Tom Waits

Anyone have any idea what the phrase "steals his promise" means? I've never heard it before...

The lyrics are written;"Because steel's his promise". Not trying to split hairs-maybe a typo,but it is an od phrase that I have never heard before either.

OK, "steel" makes way more sense than "steal." I guess the idea is that when he makes a promise, it's as firm as steel and some people admire him for that.

@TheSoberPirate to steel one's promise is to fulfill the promise with the power of the sword,