Built To Spill
"Cortez The Killer"


He came dancing across the water
with his stallions and guns.
Looking for the new world
and the palace in the sun

On the shore lay Montezuma
with his cocoa leaves and pearls,
in his halls he often wondered
the secrets of the world.

And his subjects gathered round him, like the leaves around a tree,
in the clothes of many colors,
for the angry gods to see.

And the women all were beautiful
and the men stood straight and strong;
they offered life in sacrifice
so that others could go on.


Hate was just a legend,
and war was never know.
People worked together
and the lifted many stones.

And they carried them to the flatlands,
but they died along the way.
And they built up with their bare hands what we still can't do today.

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.


He came dancing across the water, Cortez... Cortez...
What a killer.