Nicaragua

[Verse 1]
Breakfast woodsmoke on the breeze—
On the cliff the U.S. Embassy
Frowns out over Managua like Dracula's tower
The kid who guards Fonseca's tomb
Cradles a beat-up submachine gun—
At age fifteen he's a veteran of four years of war
Proud to pay his dues
He knows who turns the screws
Baby face and old man's eyes

[Verse 2]
Blue lagoon and flowering trees—
Bullet-pocked Masaya streets
Full of the ghosts of the heroes of Monimbó
Women of the town laundry
Work and gossip and laugh at me—
They don't believe I'll ever send them the pictures I took
For every scar on a wall
There's a hole in someone's heart
Where a loved one's memory lives

[Chorus]
In the flash of this moment
You're the best of what we are—
Don't let them stop you now
Nicaragua

[Verse 3]
Sandino in his Tom Mix hat
Gazes from billboards and coins
"Sandino vive en la lucha por la paz"
Sandino of the shining dream
Who stood up to U.S. Marines—
Now Washington panics at U-2 shots of "Cuban-style" latrines
They peek from planes
Eavesdrop from ships
Voyeurs licking moistened lips 'cause

[Chorus]
In the flash of this moment
You're the best of what we are—
Don't let them stop you now
Nicaragua
In the flash of this moment
You're the best of what we are—
Don't let them stop you now
Nicaragua