Three chavos leave Cuernavaca
Into the mountains, into the past,
Packed into a battered Renault Twelve
Losing the century fast
In a land where no Spanish is spoken
Where the Old Ways still hold true
They passed a church draped in corn dolls
With doors no one ever went through
Climbing Mount Popo in boat shoes
It seemed like the thing to do
Climbing Mount Popo in boat shoes
They didn’t know what they’d go through
The ruts are deeper the closer you get
The mountain is candied with snow
They walked on the path to guide Simon
As he piloted the Renault
When they reached the Paso de Cortes
Where the stout man viewed the might
Of the empire he came to conquer
They camped and spent the night
Stout Cortes took a flyer
And burned his ships on the strand
Set off inland with his horses and men
To conquer a whole new land
He had 13 horses and 500 men
A creole mistress, a cannon or two
With this he captured the world’s greatest city
And we were Conquistadores too
The mountain loomed over us smoking
As we started our march to the plain
The women and children driven before us
And men just waiting to be slain
Moctezuma tried playing the long game
And he knew right away what it cost
His life was forfeit to Cortes,
His entire Empire was lost
Sleeping eluded the climbers
The altitude was too high
The headaches, and the ancient dreams
Turned them out of their bags before five
The path to the top is a long one
It curls round the cone like a snake
Taking fifteen miles round to achieve but four up
But the climb is too steep to take straight
They got as far as fifteen thousand feet,
Just three thousand feet from the top
Thin air, the cold, their sunburned tongues
Conspired to force them to stop
El Popo is one serious mountain
Fifth highest on the continent
They decided to climb it like children
No gear, no warm clothes, no tent
They were the Conquistadores of old
They’d burned their ships on the beach
To make sure the decision to return to the pass
Was one not easily reached
They knew now why the Conqueror
Had stayed in Mexico to grow old
He’s seen the greatest thing in the world
Heard the greatest story told
Climbing Mount Popo in boat shoes
It seemed like the thing to do
Climbing Mount Popo in boat shoes
They didn’t know what they’d go through