My mate Nathaniel said Boilerplate Daniel Was found in the foundry Abandoned aged two The workers, they raised him Away from the bosses They fed him on filings And watched as he grew My mate Nathaniel said Boilerplate Daniel Was burnt in the foundry Skin blistered and red The workers, they saved him But they were not medics And so they repaired him With metal instead Chorus: Boilerplate Dan Boilerplate Dan He's not a robot he's a man in a can Boilerplate Dan Boilerplate Dan He's not a robot he's a man in a can My mate Nathaniel said Boilerplate Daniel Was mute and was deafened By the foundry's roar The worker's they tried To keep him inside But one day he was spied Through an open door Chorus: Boilerplate Dan Boilerplate Dan He's not a robot he's a man in a can Boilerplate Dan Boilerplate Dan He's not a robot he's a man in a can My mate Nathaniel said the man who saw Daniel Could not be sure What he'd stumbled upon But he had to possess This wonder of science This man shaped machine This automaton My mate Nathaniel said the man who stole Daniel Led him down to low water Where a barge could be found But poor Daniel was heavy The jetty collapsed He fell in the mud Then he sank Then he drowned