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 Xavier Valiño, when Zuma was released in Spain following Franco's death, the song was listed as "Cortez, Cortez".[3][4]
Lyrics and interpretation
Hernán Cortés, the inspiration behind the song's title
The song is not focusing on historical accuracy or realism, and includes unrelated personal perspectives. For instance, instead of describing Cortés's battles with the Aztecs, the last verse suddenly jumps to a first-person perspective 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 ended his relationship with Carrie Snodgress when the song was recorded.
Rolling Stone in 2011 criticized the song for having a few facts about Cortez "dead wrong".[5]
On a more cynical note, in Jimmy McDonough's biography of Young, Shakey, Young stated: "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."[6] He continued in a December 1995 interview in Mojo: "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."[7]
Composition
The song is typical of the Zuma album, with simple chords and gradually rising and falling tension. The song repeats the chords Em7, D and A7sus4 while Young adds his signature solos throughout. It is played in Young's favored double drop D tuning (DADGBD).
The song fades out after nearly seven and a half minutes, as (according to Young's father in Neil and Me) a circuit in the mixing console had blown. 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."[8]
The additional verse resurfaced on his 2024 tour with Crazy Horse:[9]
But I floated on the water, And I ate that ocean wave. Two weeks after the slaughter, I was livin’ in a cave. They came too late to get me, There’s no one here to set me free, From this rocky grave, To that snow-capped ocean wave.
Screaming Females released a cover of this song on a 2008 7" split with "Hunchback".[16]
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".[17]
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