The Seven Cities of Gold is a myth that led to several expeditions by adventurers such as conquistadors in the 16th century. They had heard stories from natives about cities with great and limitless riches. At the same time, the Spanish were performing colonial expansion in the Americas.
The original motivations were trade and the spread of the Catholic faith through indigenous conversions made by missionaries. This song is seen through the eyes of a priest who accompanies an expedition. The expectation of salvation is eventually replaced by a realization that a culture is being eradicated and that greed and corruption had consumed the once pious hearts of his fellow adventurers.
Inca society held gold in special status. A sacred fluidity that forged a direct connection to the supreme deity, its liquid tears fallen down to earth – Tears from the Sun.