Lyrics

{Verse 1}

🎶 There’s a tale down south of a jungle green,
Where the trees grew fruit and the land stayed clean.
Then the men in suits came to stake their claim,
With a flag, a prayer, with greed and flame. 🎶


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{Chorus}

🎶 Oh, we came for the freedom, stayed for the loot,
Built a throne on a pile of tropical fruit.
Called it justice, called it aid—
But a coup’s still a coup in the light of day. 🎶

[fiddle lick 🎻]
[hand claps and boot stomps]


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{Verse 2}

🎶 Now Jacobo Árbenz had a plan so bold,
Give the people land that the rich folks hold.
But the fruit men cried to the CIA—
“Hey, our profits are under communist sway!” 🎶


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{Bridge}

🎶 Send a whisper to the papers, let the headlines bleed,
‘Cause a lie sells better when it’s wrapped in need.
Drop a crate of guns with a red-white bow,
Wave hello to the puppet show! 🎶

[fiddle run + banjo bounce]



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{Verse 3}

🎶 Now the Dulles boys, they knew the game—
With a handshake deal and a world to claim.
Got the UN spooked, got the press on board,
And the people back home just praised the Lord. 🎶


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{Chorus}

🎶 Yeah, we came for the freedom, stayed for the loot,
Pulled the strings in a three-piece suit.
Changed the locks and burned the maps—
While the generals smiled and the fruit got packed. 🎶


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{Final Verse}

🎶 So if you bite into a sweet, ripe fruit,
And taste something bitter— that's the truth.
It might just be that rebel cry,
Still echoing under the fire lit skies. 🎶


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[Final Chorus – Slow and haunting, then back to chipper]

🎶 We came for the freedom, stayed for the lies,
Painted over truth with stars and stripes.
It’s a folk song now, but the damage stays—
Like blood on the soil and invisible graves. 🎶

[banjo outro with solemn fiddle hum]