Lights up on Washington
Heights, up at
the break of day
I wake up and I got
this little punk I
gotta chase away
Pop the grate at the
crack of dawn, sing
While I wipe
down the awning
Hey y'all, good morning
Ice cold piragua
Parcha, China,
Cherry, Strawberry
And just for today,
I got mamey
Oye, piragüero,
como estas
Como siempre,
Señor Usnavi
I am Usnavi and you
prob'ly never
heard my name
Reports of my fame
are greatly exaggerated
Exacerbated by the
fact that my syntax
Is highly complicated
'cuz I emigrated
From the single greatest
little place in
the Caribbean
Dominican Republic
I love it
Jesus, I'm jealous of it
And beyond that
Ever since my
folks passed on
I haven't gone back
Goddamn, I gotta
get on that
Fo, the milk has gone
bad, hold up
just a second
Why is everything
in this
fridge warm and tepid
I better step it up
and fight the heat
'Cuz I'm not makin' any
profit if the coffee isn't
light and sweet
Ooo-oo
Abuela, my fridge
broke, I got café
but no con leche
Try my mother's old
recipe one can of
condensed milk
Nice
Ay, paciencia y fe
That was Abuela, she's
not really my abuela,
But she practically
raised me, this corner
is her escuela
Now, you're
prob'ly thinkin
I'm up shit's creek
I've never been north
of Ninety-Sixth Street
Well, you must
take the A Train
Even farther than
Harlem to northern
Manhattan and maintain
Get off at 181st,
and take the escalator
I hope you're writing
this down, I'm gonna
test ya later
I'm getting tested
times are tough
on this bodega
Two months
ago somebody
bought Ortega's
Our neighbors started
packin' up
and pickin' up
And ever since the
rents went up
It's gotten
mad expensive
But we live with
just enough
In the heights
I flip the lights
and start my day
There are fights
And endless debts
And bills to pay
In the Heights
I can't survive
without café
I serve café
'Cuz tonight seems like
a million years away
En Washington
Next up to bat,
the Rosarios
They run the
cab company,
They struggle
in the barrio
See, their daughter
Nina's off at college,
tuition is mad steep
So they can't sleep
Everything they
get is mad cheap
Good morning, Usnavi
Pan caliente,
café con leche
Put twenty dollars
on today's lottery
Okay, must be
a lucky day
Gotta be
Oh my god,
you're so excited
'Cuz Nina flew in
at 3 A.M. last night
Sweet, abuela's been
cooking all week
Compay, when I see
you this weekend
Oh, we gonna eat
So then Yesenia
walks in the room
Aha
She smells sex
and cheap perfume
Uh oh
It smells like
one of those trees
That you hang from
the rear view
Ah, no
It's true, she screams,
Who's in there
with you, Julio
Grabs a bat and
kicks in the door
He's in bed with José
from the liquor store
No me diga
Daniela and Carla,
the salon ladies
Thanks, Usnavi
Sonny, you're late
Chillax, you
know you love me
Me and my cousin
runnin' just another
dime-a-dozen
Mom-and-pop
stop-and-shop
And, oh my
god, it's gotten
Too darn hot, like my
man Cole Porter said
People come through for
a few cold waters and
A lottery ticket, just
a part of the routine
Everybody's got a job,
everybody's got a dream
They gossip, as I sip
my coffee and smirk
The first stop as
people hop to work
Bust it, I'm like
One dollar, two dollars,
one fifty, one sixty-nine
I got it, you want a box
of condoms, what kind
That's two quarters
Two quarter waters
The New York Times
You need a bag for that
The tax is added
Once you get
some practice at it
You do rapid
mathematics
automatically
Sellin' maxipads, fuzzy
dice for taxicabs
and practically
Everybody's
stressed, yes
But they press
through the mess,
Bounce checks and
wonder what's next
In the heights
I buy my coffee
and I go
Set my sights
On only what I
need to know
In the heights
Money is tight
But even so
When the lights go
down I blast my radio
You ain't got no skills
Yo, lemme get a
Milky Way
Yeah, lemme
also get a
Daily News
And a
Post
And most important, my
Boss' second
coffee, one cream
Five sugars
I'm the number
one earner
What
The fastest learner
What
My boss can't keep
me on the damn
back burner
Yes, he can
I'm makin' moves,
I'm makin' deals,
but guess what
What
You still ain't
got no skills
Hardee-har
Yo, Vanessa
show up yet
Shut up
Hey little homie,
don't get so upset
Man
Tell Vanessa how you
feel, buy the girl a meal
On the real, or you
ain't got no skills
Nooo
No no nooo
No no nooo, no-no-no
Nooo, no-no-no
No-no-no-no,
no-no-no-no,
no-no-no-no-no
Mr. Johnson, I got
the security deposit
It's locked in a box in
the bottom of my closet
It's not reflected in
my bank statement
But I've been savin'
to make a down
payment and pay rent
No, no, I won't
let you down
Yo, here's your chance
ask her out right now
I'll see you later, we
can look at that lease
Do somethin', make your
move, don't freeze
Hey
You owe me a bottle
of cold champagne
Are you moving
Just a little credit
check and I'm on
that downtown train
Well, your coffee's
on the house
Okay
Usnavi, ask her out
No way
I'll see you later, so
Oooh, Smooth
operator, aw, damn,
there she goes
Yo, bro, take five,
take a walk outside
You look exhausted,
lost, don't let life slide
The whole hood is
struggling, times
are tight
And you're stuck
to this corner
like a streetlight
Yeah, I'm a streetlight,
chokin' on the heat
The world spins around
while I'm frozen
to my seat
The people that I
know all keep on
rollin' down the street
But every day is
different so I'm
switchin' up the beat
'Cuz my parents came
with nothing, they
got a little more
And sure, we're poor,
but yo, at least
we got the store
And it's all about the
legacy they left with
me, it's destiny
And one day I'll be
on a beach with Sonny
writing checks to me
In the Heights, I hang
my flag up on display
We came to work and
to live and we got
a lot in common
It reminds me that I
came from miles away
D.R., P.R., we
are not stoppin'
In the Heights
Every day,
paciencia y fe
Until the day we
go from poverty
to stock options
And today's all we
got, so we cannot stop
This is our block
In the Heights
I hang my flag
up on display
It reminds me that I
came from miles away
In the Heights
It gets more
expensive every day
And tonight is
so far away
But as for
mañana, mi pana
Ya gotta just
keep watchin'
You'll see the
late nights
You'll taste
beans and rice
The syrups and
shaved ice
I ain't gonna
say it twice
So turn up the
stage lights
We're takin' a flight
To a couple of days
in the life of
what it's like
En Washington
Heights