goes beyond the straight line.
We did the twin songs about Maximilian and Carlota, and it occurred to me that an important point of view was missing. Yes, today, through the veil of time, the royal couple are often seen as tragic figures, and portrayed in a sentimental way. Maximilian is even seen as a religious figure, due to the chapel built later as a memorial.
Yet Maximilian also signed the Decree of the Black, authorizing the death sentence for anyone who fought for Mexican independence. At the time, many Mexicans hated him bitterly.
So I worked with AI to come up with lyrics to express what might have been the viewpoint of the typical soldier fighting against Emperor Maximilian:
(Verse 1)
You came across the water with a cross and a foreign lie
To build a marble palace beneath a Mexican sky.
You thought we were just shadows, just dust upon the road
While you danced in Chapultepec in your stolen, golden robe.
But I’ve been sleeping in the cactus, I’ve been drinking from the rain
And I’ve got the names of my fallen brothers etched into my brain.
(Verse 2)
Keep your Austrian medals and your Belgian cavaliers
There’s a wind blowing from the north that you ought to learn to fear.
You signed a piece of paper called the "Decree of the Black"
Well, I’m standing here with a loaded gun and I ain't turning back.
My boots are made of rawhide and my heart is made of flint
And I don’t need a King’s permission to know just what I meant.
(Chorus)
Oh, the Eagle’s got the Serpent and he’s tearing at the wings!
We don’t want your "Empire," and we don’t want your Kings!
Go on and plant your roses, but the roots will never take
Because the ground you’re standing on is wide and fast awake.
The Republic is a fire, and the fire’s getting tall
And the bigger that your shadow is, the harder you will fall!
(Bridge)
You offered us an amnesty? You offered us a place?
While your cannons turned our villages to a hollow, smoking space?
Juárez is the Law, and the Law is in the hand
Of every tired soldier who is fighting for his land.
(Verse 3)
Now the bells are ringing out from the towers of the town
And the tricolor of the Republic is pulling your banners down.
At the Cerro de las Campanas, the morning air is thin
And the play-act of your royalty is finally wearing thin.
You can face the line of rifles with your dignity and grace
But you’re just a ghost from Europe that we’re washing from this place.
(Chorus)
Oh, the Eagle’s got the Serpent and he’s tearing at the wings!
We don’t want your "Empire," and we don’t want your Kings!
Go on and plant your roses, but the roots will never take
Because the ground you’re standing on is wide and fast awake.
The Republic is a fire, and the fire’s getting tall
And the bigger that your shadow is, the harder you will fall!
(Outro)
The land belongs to the man who toils.
The land belongs to the man who bleeds.
Viva la República!
Historical Note: The lyrics refer to the French conquering Mexico in the name of the Cross. This is a reference to the Catholic institutional church (and the Pope), which was on the side of the French and the Conservatives, as the traditional rights of the Catholic Church had been reduced when President Juarez won the Reform War (the civil war preceding the French Intervention). However, some Catholic clergy – typically the humble village priests – were on the side of the Liberals in the Reform War.
'Belgian cavaliers' refers to Emperor Maximilian recruiting soldiers from Belgium (Carlota's birthplace) to serve in his army in Mexico.
Sonauto had no problems pronouncing the lyrics this time.
The Gemini AI suggested three possible music styles, and the one which finally worked for me was:
Latin Rock, Dark Folk Rock, Gritty Male Vocals, Driving Stomp-Clap Rhythm, Distorted Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Revolutionary, Intense
And the music tags which the AI selected based on that were 'indie rock, roots rock, latin rock, 2020s, dark folk, folk rock, blues rock'.
Sonauto eventually came up with a tune that I liked.
Nano Banana came up with the art, based on the lyrics.
I then used another AI, Flux Klein, to make the image look like a painting, and I used See Dance to animate the flag.
Caption files were created for English, French, Spanish and Tagalog.
The final step was to combine the music with titles, using ClipChamp:
I've posted the video as a reel on the TMP Facebook page. It was our most popular video for that week.