"Hate was just a legend, And war was never known": Critical Analysis of Neil Young's Song 'Cortez the Killer'

Hernán Cortés
16th Century Spanish Conquistadore

Here is an intriguing lyrics analysis of Neil Young's song 'Cortez the Killer', from the 1975 album "Zuma".

From African Exponent by Peter LJ Hesen:

---

Looking at the lyrics - 7 verses in a 7:29 track - one might glance over them and say “well, okay...”. Detached from the music they may appear as a loose collection of impressions. To fully appreciate however their richness and (probably) multi-layered context, one has to listen to them in conjunction with the music.

When Young says [it was] "a lotta shit I just made up because it came to me", I don’t believe that for one second. If it just came to him and he scribbled the lyrics on a piece of paper, my question then would be “Where did it come from?” Was it Montezuma’s ghost speaking to him, enacting his wisdom instead of his revenge for which he is better known for?

In any case it is an artist’s prerogative to keep the deeper meaning - or the absence thereof - from one of his creations to himself and let the listener make up his own mind; which I am about to do...

The ’simple’ big chords, guitar solo, rhythm and pace of the song paint a picture of doom heading for a continent that up to that moment was pretty much untouched and unscaved by Western ‘civilisation’. I think by now you are getting where I am heading with this...

When I first listened to the track, armed with only bare-bone knowledge of Young’s work and the history of the conquistadores, images of the movie “1492” rose to my mind. Yes, “1492” isn’t about Cortés but Columbus. The point made here being the imagery not the historical context, although they belong to the same narrative. That of conquest.

---

Full lyrics analysis of Neil Young's song 'Cortez the Killer' at African Exponent by Peter LJ Hesen.

"Cortez The Killer" Concert Video - Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Casa de Campo, Madrid, 25/4/87

Also, see the Thrasher's Wheat Lyrics Analysis of 'Cortez the Killer'.

---

---

"The Horse is Ready to Leave the Barn", Says Neil Young

Crazy Horse
Berlin - June 2, 2013 (Summer 2013 Europe Tour)
Photo by Paolo Brillo
(Click photo to enlarge)
Last week, we reported on a new feature on Neil Young's Archives, a "Song of the Day".

Today, Neil Young writes on NYA Times-Contrarian that the "Song of the Day" is "Country Home", along with the tantalizingly tasty tidbit:

"The Horse Is Ready to Leave the Barn"

To read about and listen, go to Neil Young Archives - Song of the Day.

In the meantime, "Smell The Horse"! (Thanks HtH!)

Neil Young Archives (NYA) Times-Contrarian - Song of the Day

More on previous NYA Times-Contrarian posts:

• Song of the Day: New Feature on Neil Young Archives
• Neil Young Archives (NYA) Times-Contrarian Launches Debut Issue
• "FREE THE MUSIC": Update on Neil Young Archives (NYA) Times-Contrarian
• "Vinyl is KING" Says Neil Young
• Neil Young Returns To #1 On The Charts!
• Neil Young: Tech Giants Rip Off Artists

Also, see more on "When The Horse Leaves the Barn".

Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Perth Arena, Perth, Australia - 3-2-2013 (Spring 2013 Australia/New Zealand Tour)
Photo by Lee B. | Facebook

---

---

Micah Nelson: The Trippy Troubadour | Rolling Stone

Micah Nelson
Photo by Cameron McCool | Rolling Stone

"Playing music with Neil Young has been like 'getting a masters degree in Jedi training,' " says Micah Nelson.

From an interview "The Trippy Troubadour: Micah Nelson Explains Why 'Perfect' Is Overrated" | Rolling Stone by Andy Greene:

Micah says playing music with Young has been like "getting a masters degree in Jedi training." Young has schooled the Nelson brothers with precepts like, "The perfect is highly overrated." "The main thing he's taught me about music is, 'If you think, you're fucked.' You have to accept your flaws and embrace them."

Young cast Micah, Lukas and the rest of Promise of the Real in his trippy western Paradox, directed by Young's girlfriend Daryl Hannah and shot in the Rockies during a four day tour break, using vintage Super 8 film and Hannah’s phone. "We're all miners in the future, mining for ancient technology like computers and phones," says Micah. "It's a strange, beautiful art film." He say that Young and Hannah call Paradox "a very loud poem" — perhaps the only such poem streaming on Netflix.

Full interview at "The Trippy Troubadour: Micah Nelson Explains Why 'Perfect' Is Overrated" | Rolling Stone by Andy Greene.



Lukas Nelson, Neil Young and Micah Nelson
Farm Aid 2014
Walnut Creek Amphitheatre - Raleigh, North Carolina - September 13, 2014
Photo Images by Jim McKelvey Photography - photo.net

---

---