One slow Tuesday afternoon, I was strumming my old guitar when that haunting riff from “Cortez the Killer” popped into my head. Got me wondering – where the hell did these lyrics even come from? Grabbed my laptop and dove straight into the rabbit hole.
Starting The Deep Dive
First thing I did? Pulled up the song on my streaming app and cranked the volume. Listened real slow, scribbling down lines like “He came dancing across the water with cargoes of jewels”. Wanted to find out why Neil Young wrote about Spanish conquistadors instead of love or trucks like everyone else.
Checked Wikipedia first – total dead end. Just basic album release dates and band members. Annoying as hell. Typed “Cortez lyrics backstory” into search next. Scrolled past tour dates and cover versions until I hit gold: some forum where a guy claimed Young based it on Aztec poems. Couldn’t find the damn poems anywhere though.
The Breakthrough Moment
Remembered this beat-up biography of Young gathering dust on my shelf. Thumbed through sticky notes until I found a chapter called “Zuma Sessions”. Bingo! Turns out Neil was reading Bernal Díaz del Castillo’s diaries – actual writings from a Cortez foot soldier describing the horrors against the Aztecs.
Smoked a cigarette while re-reading lyrics. Suddenly “Danced across the water” made brutal sense – Cortez arriving on ships loaded with greed. That chill “civilize the noble savage” line felt heavier knowing Aztec cities got leveled for gold. Shit gave me goosebumps.
The Spooky Studio Tale
Got curious about the recording. Dug deeper and uncovered the wildest part – most of the lyrics were improvised! Young just mumbled half-awake lines in the dark studio after smoking god-knows-what. Even crazier? The master tape caught fire during playback. Band barely saved the version we know today from literal ashes.
Finished my research shaking my head. Whole damn song survived like some miracle Aztec artifact – just like the civilization it mourns. That wailing guitar solo hits different knowing it’s basically a funeral pyre melody.
Turned off the computer thinking: Cortez ain’t the killer here – it’s us forgetting these stories. Least we can do is crank this masterpiece louder.
