MAYA, AZTEC & INCA song by Mr. Nicky |
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TEACHERS: Mr. Nicky is booking his 2024 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 mrnickychicago@gmail.com for full information. (Students will not receive a response, but thank you for your support!)
- lyrics below - Here's the MERCH! :-) : http://bonfire.com/store/mr-nickys-world-history-songs/ 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 |