Songfacts®:

• This song originated with Tesla singer Jeff Keith getting fired up by listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1975 track "Saturday Night Special" (the title refers to a cheap handgun). He called in at guitarist/keyboardist Frank Hannon's house just as Hannon was in the garage writing the riff for what would be "Cold Blue Steel." They wrote the lyrics to Hannon's music, taking influence from the way the late Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zant told a story. "It's really raw and edgy," Hannon told Rob Rush Radio. "We didn't overproduce it. And that's where we got the idea, 'Let's get real. Just keep it real.' The lyrics even say 'Let's get real' in there. And that's what our whole motto is."
• Some fans partially misinterpreted the song, assuming it to be about gun control.
  
  Without compassion solutions are sought
  Makin' decisions like they've been store bought
  Evil intentions refuse to respect
  Pullin' the trigger to serve and protect
  
  The lyrics are deeper than just being about regulating firearms. The song is about people who take advantage of a small amount of power given to them and try to get a lot more. "You give 'em an inch, they take a mile - whether it's a politician, whether it's a crook, whether it's a police officer," Hannon explained to Let's Rock. "And we support our police."
  
  "There's evil intentions in all parts of life," he continued, "and that's what the song is really about - just observing and asking the question, 'What's to blame?' It's not talking about 'take away guns' or any of that s--t."
• The song started off as an amusing poke at Ronnie Van Zant.
  
  Just Like Ronnie I do agree
  Why don't we dump 'em to the bottom of the sea
  Whats to blame? Lets get real
  Some find the answer in Cold Blue Steel
  
  "That last lyric in the song, 'Just like Ronnie said, 'Let's dump 'em to the bottom of the sea,'' that's where the song started for fun," said Hannon. "And then we took it and tried to make it a little bit more serious."
• Tesla released a radio remix version of "Cold Blue Steel" in 2022 with the guitars and vocals cranked up louder and the raw energy preserved. "Some folks were reluctant to play the track with its explicit lyrics in the verse, so I created a clean version for radio with a bleep," Hannon said. "As a band member and being the producer, we approve of these changes and really love the remixed audio enhancement for radio play."