Neil Young. Hmmmm. I must confess that I have a habit of affecting a bad imitation of his vocals in an attempt to make fun of him. Pretty sad, really. Neil’s musical genius however, is beyond reproach-he’s crafted more than a handful of songs that are absolutely bulletproof-these songs will still be floating around long after we’re all mere afterthoughts. I find that I have to be in a certain state of mind or predicament to really appreciate Neil’s music and the one song that I can ALWAYS get into and which I always turn up the stereo to is “Cortez the Killer.”
The Church’s cover of “Cortez the Killer” is far and away my favorite cover by far. Their version is trippy, moody, and ethereal. It helps that they use fat analog synths and they establish a jammy atmosphere early on which complements the musical interplay. I actually stumbled onto this song while I was poking around for a FLAC version of Starfish, a tremendous improvement. The song reminds me of the moods captured by Pink Floyd’s songs-the minor key excursions and instrumental outros. David Gilmour would approve, I think.
Apparently the song was banned in Spain for quite a while, which I guess is quite understandable. Hernan Cortez is a demi-god in those parts and any perceived slight to his stature was bound to ruffle some feathers. We have the music and that's really all that matters in these trying and otherwise difficult times.
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