Down the Guadalquivir, the old river of war
From Seville to the sea and then west
To the sun spattered lands of the Aztecs they bore
en of steel, men of Spain, Europe’s best
That was then, this is now, golden days are long gone
When the ships and the men put to sea
And returned with the gold to Cadiz with the dawn
A fair harbor and safety to lee
The Platte fleet now sails in the night in the dreams
Of a nation whose glory is past
But the river of war in the moonless night gleams
With the river and time running fast