writes:Now I wanted to try making a music video about a famous battle. Since the previous videos were about the French Intervention in Mexico, the 1st Battle of Puebla (Cinco de Mayo) seemed appropriate.
I wanted to do a song from the perspective of the victorious Mexican side.
First, the lyrics:
[Verse 1]
The horizon’s choked with the dust of the French
While we’re digging our boots in a shallow trench
They say Lorences has never known a retreat
That the grass of Mexico will bow at his feet
But he hasn't met the men from the mountain height
Who don’t need a crown to know how to fight
We’ve got rusted rifles and machetes of steel
Against imperial thunder and the cannon’s wheel
[Chorus]
Oh, stand your ground where the eagles fly
Under the weight of a Puebla sky!
The Zouaves are coming with their red-coated pride
But we’ve got the spirit of the land on our side
They brought the lightning, they brought the flame
But they’ll leave with nothing but a funeral name!
[Verse 2]
Zaragoza rides steady, he’s calm and he’s cold
"Your enemy is first-rate," is what we’ve been told
"But you are the sons of this ancient soil
And today we shall break their colonial coil!"
The first wave came with a shout and a roar
But Guadelupe’s gates were a locked-tight door
We watched them stumble, we watched them fall
As the lead rained down from the convent wall
[Bridge]
Then the sky turned black and the heavens broke
In a shroud of rain and gunpowder smoke
The invincible soldiers began to slide
In the mud of a country they’d dared to deride
Diaz gave the signal, the horses took flight
And the pride of Napoleon vanished from sight!
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 3]
They ran for the coast, they ran for the sea
Leaving their banners for the world to see
That a man with a home and a heart that is true
Is worth ten of the soldiers that a King can endue
The Fifth of May is a mark in the stone
That Mexico stands, and she stands alone
[Chorus]
Oh, stand your ground where the eagles fly
Under the weight of a Puebla sky!
The Zouaves are coming with their red-coated pride
But we’ve got the spirit of the land on our side
They brought the lightning, they brought the flame
But they’ll leave with nothing but a funeral name!
[Outro]
The sun’s going down on a field of red
Quiet prayers for the living and the honored dead
Tell the Emperor back in his Paris hall:
The higher you climb, the harder you fall.
Sonauto had some problem with the words this time, so I checked with Gemini to get the pronunciation right, then plugged that into the lyrics. So 'Puebla' became 'Pwebla', 'Lorences' became 'lor-AHN-say', 'Zouaves' became 'zwahvs', 'Guadelupe' became 'gwah-dah-loo-pay', 'Diaz' became 'Dee-ahss'.
The music tags used were 'Latin rock, Folk-rock, cinematic, driving percussion, gritty male vocals, anthemic'.
Nano Banana AI came up with the art:
This picture didn't seem suitable for animation.
As always, the final step was to combine the music and the art with titles, using ClipChamp:
That's our first battle music video!
I've posted the video as a reel on the TMP Facebook page – this is a link to the later English-captioned video, as the original video had no captions – where it has been well received..
Hopefully, this video will spur more interest in wargaming the 1st Battle of Puebla!