Young has stated in concert that he wrote the song while studying history in high school in Winnipeg. According to Young's notes for the album Decade, the song was banned in Spain under Francisco Franco. According to El País and book author Xavier Valiño, the album Zuma was released in Spain in full following Franco's death, with the song renamed to the less inflammatory title "Cortez".[3]
Hernán Cortés, the inspiration behind the song's title
The song is inspired by Hernán Cortés (Cortés' name has an alternate Anglicized spelling in the song title), a conquistador who conquered Mexico for Spain in the 16th century. "Cortez the Killer" also makes reference to the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II and the Spanish conquest of the New World.
Instead of describing Cortés' battles with the Aztecs, the lyric in the last verse suddenly jumps from third person narrative to first person, and possibly over a time span of centuries as well, with a reference to an unnamed woman: "And I know she's living there / And she loves me to this day. / I still can't remember when / or how I lost my way." Young had recently gone through his breakup with Carrie Snodgress around this time.
On a more cynical note, in Jimmy McDonough's biography of Young, Shakey, the author asked Neil if his songs were autobiographical. Young replied, "What the fuck am I doing writing about Aztecs in 'Cortez the Killer' like I was there, wandering around? 'Cause I only read about it in a few books. A lotta shit I just made up because it came to me."[4] He continues in a December 1995 interview for Mojo Magazine: "It was a combination of imagination and knowledge. What Cortez represented to me is the explorer with two sides, one benevolent, the other utterly ruthless. I mean, look at Columbus! Everyone now knows he was less than great. And he wasn't even there first (laughs). It always makes me question all these other so-called icons."[5]
Rolling Stone critiqued the song's idyllic view of Mesoamerica, noting that despite the song's contention that "War was never known" to the Aztecs, in actuality they were "in a near-constant state of war", and that while the song claims people sacrificed themselves "so others could go on", in reality "Innocent people were tied to posts and brutally tortured and killed."[6]
CompositionEdit
The song is typical of the Zuma album—simple, big chords and a bass line that sometimes becomes very powerful and fades again. The song repeats the chords Em7, D and Am7sus4 while Young adds his signature solos throughout. It is played in double drop D (DADGBD).
The lyrics start 3:23 into the song. First the words picture Cortés and his "galleons and guns" on their quest of the new world shores. There lived Montezuma, emperor of the Aztecs, inconceivably rich and full of wisdom, but in a civilization doomed despite its beauty and amazing achievements. By immense human toll of building, their huge and still existing pyramids had been erected, and are praised in the song.
Also of note is that the song fades out after nearly seven and a half minutes, as (according to Young's father in Neil and Me) an electrical circuit had blown, causing the console to go dead. In addition to losing the rest of the instrumental work, a final verse was also lost. When producer David Briggs had to break this news to the band, Young replied "I never liked that verse anyway." The additional verse has not been identified or recorded officially.[7]
Cover versionsEdit
The song was covered in studio album Three of a kind by Vanja Orlandić (2013)
The song was covered live by Slint, with a version being released on the 2014 reissue of Spiderland.
Screaming Females released a cover of this song on a 2008 7" split with "Hunchback".
David Rawlings covered the song on his 2009 album A Friend of a Friend, where it appears as the latter half of a medley; the first section is the Bright Eyes song "Method Acting".
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This article is about the song For the person upon which the song is based see Hernan Cortes Cortez the Killer is a song by Canadian singer songwriter Neil Young from his 1975 album Zuma It was recorded with the band Crazy Horse It has since been ranked No 39 on Guitar World s 100 Greatest Guitar Solos and No 329 on Rolling Stone s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time 2 Cortez the Killer Song by Neil Youngfrom the album ZumaReleasedNovember 10 1975RecordedJune 16 1974 August 29 1975GenreHard rock blues rockLength7 29LabelRepriseSongwriter s Neil YoungProducer s Neil Young David Briggs 1 Young has stated in concert that he wrote the song while studying history in high school in Winnipeg According to Young s notes for the album Decade the song was banned in Spain under Francisco Franco According to El Pais and book author Xavier Valino the album Zuma was released in Spain in full following Franco s death with the song renamed to the less inflammatory title Cortez 3 Contents 1 Lyrics and interpretation 2 Composition 3 Cover versions 4 ReferencesLyrics and interpretation Edit nbsp Hernan Cortes the inspiration behind the song s titleThe song is inspired by Hernan Cortes Cortes name has an alternate Anglicized spelling in the song title a conquistador who conquered Mexico for Spain in the 16th century Cortez the Killer also makes reference to the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II and the Spanish conquest of the New World Instead of describing Cortes battles with the Aztecs the lyric in the last verse suddenly jumps from third person narrative to first person and possibly over a time span of centuries as well with a reference to an unnamed woman And I know she s living there And she loves me to this day I still can t remember when or how I lost my way Young had recently gone through his breakup with Carrie Snodgress around this time On a more cynical note in Jimmy McDonough s biography of Young Shakey the author asked Neil if his songs were autobiographical Young replied What the fuck am I doing writing about Aztecs in Cortez the Killer like I was there wandering around Cause I only read about it in a few books A lotta shit I just made up because it came to me 4 He continues in a December 1995 interview for Mojo Magazine It was a combination of imagination and knowledge What Cortez represented to me is the explorer with two sides one benevolent the other utterly ruthless I mean look at Columbus Everyone now knows he was less than great And he wasn t even there first laughs It always makes me question all these other so called icons 5 Rolling Stone critiqued the song s idyllic view of Mesoamerica noting that despite the song s contention that War was never known to the Aztecs in actuality they were in a near constant state of war and that while the song claims people sacrificed themselves so others could go on in reality Innocent people were tied to posts and brutally tortured and killed 6 Composition EditThe song is typical of the Zuma album simple big chords and a bass line that sometimes becomes very powerful and fades again The song repeats the chords Em7 D and Am7sus4 while Young adds his signature solos throughout It is played in double drop D DADGBD The lyrics start 3 23 into the song First the words picture Cortes and his galleons and guns on their quest of the new world shores There lived Montezuma emperor of the Aztecs inconceivably rich and full of wisdom but in a civilization doomed despite its beauty and amazing achievements By immense human toll of building their huge and still existing pyramids had been erected and are praised in the song Also of note is that the song fades out after nearly seven and a half minutes as according to Young s father in Neil and Me an electrical circuit had blown causing the console to go dead In addition to losing the rest of the instrumental work a final verse was also lost When producer David Briggs had to break this news to the band Young replied I never liked that verse anyway The additional verse has not been identified or recorded officially 7 Cover versions EditThe song was covered in studio album Three of a kind by Vanja Orlandic 2013 The song was covered live by Slint with a version being released on the 2014 reissue of Spiderland The song has been covered live by the Dave Matthews Band with Warren Haynes at their concert in Central Park in 2003 Built to Spill recorded a version for their 2000 album Live that with several guitar solos throughout came to over twenty minutes in length It was also covered by The Church on A Box of Birds 1999 Gov t Mule covered the song on their 1998 album Live With a Little Help from Our Friends A live version by Matthew Sweet appears on the Legacy edition of Girlfriend Grace Potter Reed Mathis Willy Waldman Joe Satriani and Stephen Perkins 8 Grace Potter continues to cover the song in her concerts Singer songwriter Marissa Nadler covered the song on a bonus EP to her 2007 album Songs III Bird on the Water Screaming Females released a cover of this song on a 2008 7 split with Hunchback David Rawlings covered the song on his 2009 album A Friend of a Friend where it appears as the latter half of a medley the first section is the Bright Eyes song Method Acting Jim Jarmusch Bradford Cox and Randy Randall covered the song in 2009 for a video on the website of Pitchfork Media 9 Metal band Prong covered the song on the 2015 covers album Songs from the Black Hole Dinosaur Jr and J Mascis and the Fog frequently cover the song live with lengthy improvised guitar solos Both bands feature J Mascis on guitar The Lemonheads covered the song during their March 1991 show at Markthalle Hamburg and were joined by Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom Karate band covered the song during their 2023 show in Primavera Sound Porto The Billy Walton Band cover the song regularly in their live shows also recorded on their album Billy Walton Band 2020 http billywaltonband com References Edit Neil Young Discography Zuma neilyoung com Archived from the original on 2006 02 07 Retrieved 2015 07 23 Rolling Stone s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Rolling Stone April 7 2011 Retrieved October 1 2015 Manrique Diego A 2012 01 20 Los discos prohibidos del franquismo El Pais Shakey Neil Young s Biography by Jimmy McDonough Vintage Canada 1st edition May 13 2003 ISBN 978 0 679 31193 5 ISBN 978 0 679 31193 5 page 128 Kent Nick December 1995 I Build Something Up I Tear It Right Down Neil Young at 50 Mojo Retrieved August 26 2023 RS Fact Checks Famous Rock Songs Rolling Stone 2011 02 23 Retrieved 2020 07 14 Young Scott Neil and Me p 149 150 Performance of the Jammys on YouTube Pitchfork tv Pitchfork com 2012 05 18 Retrieved 2012 05 24 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cortez the Killer amp oldid 1180185653, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
