MAYA, AZTEC & INCA song by Mr. Nicky

TEACHERS: Mr. Nicky is booking his 2024-25 virtual assemblies and online history songwriting lessons! These programs (via Zoom/Google Meet/etc.) meet state learning standards in both social studies and ELA, and they’re tons of fun. Please send an email to [email protected] for full information. (Students will not receive a response, but thank you for your support!)
- lyrics below -
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The Maya, Aztec and Inca song by Mr. Nicky
To the tune of "Edamame" by bbno$ and Rich Brian
Backing track property of Karaoke Version/Tency Music

Plazas with stone palaces and temple-pyramids
kings drinking cacao bean hot chocolate
In Mesoamerica, when maize got poppin'
it fed widespread settlement and rock-metropolis growth
by the Gulf of Mexico along the coast
impressive Olmec cities first arose
known for their big heads and influential role
as the region's "cultural mother" who bestowed
their art and science upon the Maya
whose gods got their blood offerings promptly
because their priests knew astronomy so calendar reading
was on the dot, looking up from observatories for accuracy
It's the Classic Period, their peak of progress
They were working mathematics with the "zero" concept
Hieroglyphic writing documented what their gods said
as they posted their kings' achievement record content
The glyphs portrayed their city states as linked by trade
while they remained independent
It's still debated which ill-fated situations hit
that made them abandon and bounce on that Yucatán Peninsula scene
like they were dying to compete on a rubber ball team
The Maya cleared out like the lowland forest trees they would slash and burn
though creative farming techniques got them

plazas with stone palaces and temple pyramids
kings drinking cacao bean hot chocolate
In Mesoamerica, with maize and squash
you mix beans, those three spread the roots of rock-metropolis growth
to the valley in the heart of Mexico
Where early Aztecs fought to find a home
They built a city out on Lake Texcoco
calling it Tenochtitlán, they had to float their gardens out
on the chinampas so they could add
farmland to an island full of swamps
aqueducts were channeling their fresh water
they had crops to trade in the marketplace
or carry down the causeway lanes and build alliances
with tribes on shore combining forces with two city-states
and fighting wars to bring in tribute payments that would finance more expansion
as their captive sacrificing poured down blood to paint the Great Main Temple steps
Powering the sun required the deaths
Enemies resented being oppressed
Some would join up with Hernán Cortés
and the Aztec empire was defeated
Struck down by conquistadors' new weapons and diseases
Spanish conquest didn't stop their poetry and speeches
oral masterpieces would inspire codices with
pages of pictographs and colorful scenes
plus their herbal remedies and eagle-snake memes
depicting life inside the neighborhood capulli
shared by groups of families paying taxes that would mean more

plazas with stone palaces and temple pyramids
kings drinking cacao bean hot chocolate
Down in South America on Andes Mountain cliffs
Staircased terrace farms stepped up rock-metropolis growth
Raising higher altitude potatoes
that fed some early cultures who we owe
for the great achievements seen in Cuzco
Making it the Inca's mighty capital
They stretched their vast domain
north and south, learning how from Pachacuti's reign
When he mobilized his army quickly over roads with far-extending range
where their runners raced dutifully relaying
knotted quipus as their database records made of string
keeping track of labor taxes paid by contributing
work that served the government producing surplus goods that went
in storage buildings meant for public aid food distributing and
stocking up the provinces thanks to work their llamas did
Showing tribes the positives of the empire's dominance
Like religious tolerance (if Incan gods had prominence)
and when a group would not submit, they liked to move them off the grid
While no one budged their stonework cause
it's so well cut it's holding up through the centuries
They had no such luck with gold they sculpted
though it was from the Holy Sun, because eventually
Spain claimed their riches once Pizzaro's men seized
"golden opportunities” when their rule had grown weak
Their strength lives on through their ingenuity
They've got Machu Picchu featuring the lasting legacy of their

plazas with stone palaces and temple pyramids
kings drinking cacao bean hot chocolate
It's ancient America where social structures with
class-ranked roles organized their rock-metropolis growth
overcoming geographic obstacles without iron tools or wheeled vehicles
didn't have draft animals to pull the loads
Unless you count llamas, I recommend you don't