Cortez the Killer
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Cortez the Killer is a song by Neil Young from his 1975 album, Zuma. It was recorded with Young's band Crazy Horse and ranked #321 on Rolling Stone 's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song is about Hernán Cortés, a conquistador who conquered Mexico for Spain in the 1500s. The song also makes reference to the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II and other events that occurred in the Spanish conquest of the New World.
The music is typical of the Zuma album — simple, big chords and not much extra. The song repeats the chords Em7, D and Am7 while Young adds his signature solo riffs throughout. It is played in Young's favoured "double dropped D", or "D modal" tuning (DADGBD) — standard guitar tuning with top and bottom strings tuned down a whole tone.
Only after several minutes of this does the lyric start. First it pictures Cortés and his "galleons and guns" about to arrive, then jumps to the Aztecs, depicting their civilization in somewhat idealized fashion even though explicitly acknowledging, before and after some guitar work, both human sacrifice and the immense human toll of building their pyramids. Instead of describing what happened when Cortez appeared, the lyric in the last verse suddenly jumps from third person narrative to first person, with elliptical references to a romantic relationship gone bad. This may refer to Cortez's Aztec mistress whom he loved dearly (perhaps Doña Marina, his interpreter),[citation needed] or to some other unspecified relationship. Finally after another spell of guitar, Young simply mutters, "Cortez ... what a killer."
Young has stated in concert that he wrote the song while studying history in high school. In Jimmy McDonough's biography of Young, entitled 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." Nevertheless, the song was banned in Spain, according to Young's notes for the album Decade.
[edit] Cover versions
The simple chord structure lends itself to long jams, and has been covered as such a jam song by many artists. The song has been covered live by the Dave Matthews Band, most notably a performance with Warren Haynes at their concert in Central Park in 2003. The song was also covered by Built to Spill on their 2000 album Live, by The Church on A Box of Birds (1999), and by The Drones and Pearl Jam. Gov't Mule covered the song on their 1998 album Live ... With A Little Help From Our Friends. It was also covered by Slint, at their gig in Chicago on 3/3/89.
