In The Heights

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, ya'll. Good morning!
Ice cold piragua! Parcha. China. Cherry. Strawberry. And just for today, I got mamey!
Oye, piraguero. ¿Cómo estás?
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
Foh!
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!
Ooh-hoo!
Abuela, my fridge broke. I've got café, but no con leche
Ay, Dios
Try my mother's old recipe: one can of condensed milk
Nice
Oh hey, your lottery ticket
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 probably thinkin' I'm up shit's creek
"I've never been north of 96th 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 your writin' this down, I'm gonna test you 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... ding! Kevin Rosario
He runs the cab company
He struggles in the barrio
See, his daughter Nina's off at college
Tuition is mad steep, so he can't sleep
Everything he get is mad cheap
Good morning, Usnavi!
Pan caliente, café con leche
Put 20 dollars on today's lottery
Okay, must be your lucky day
Gotta be
Oh, my God, you're so excited
My Nina flew in at 3:00 a.m. last night
Sweet! Abuela's been cooking all week
Compay, when I see you this weekend...
Are we gonna eat!
So then Yesenia walks in the room
(Aha...)
She smells sex and cheap perfume
(Oh, no!)
It smells like one of those trees that you hang from the rearview
(Ay, 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 Jose from the liquor store!
No me diga!
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' maxi-pads, fuzzy dice for taxicabs
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
I buy my coffee and...
Set my sights
On only what I need to know
What I need to know
In the Heights
Money is tight, but even so
Even so
When the lights go down I blast my radio
You ain't got no skills!
Benny!
Yo, let me get a...
Milky Way
Yeah, and let me 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, he 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
Har-de-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
Bro, do somethin', make your move, don't freeze!
Hey!
You owe me a bottle of cold champagne!
Are you movin'?
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...
Yo, smooth operator, oh 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 is 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
DR, PR, we are not stoppin'
In the Heights
Every day, paciencia y fe
Until the day we go from poverty to stock options
In the Heights
I've got today
Today's all we got, so we cannot stop
This is our block
In the Heights
I hang my flag up on display
(Lo le lo le lo lai lai lo le)
It reminds that I came from miles away
My family came from miles away
In the heights
It gets more expensive every day
Every day
And tonight is so far away
But as for mañana, mi pana, ya gotta just keep watchin'
(In the Heights)
You'll see the late night
You'll taste beans and rice
(In the Heights)
The syrups and shaved ice
I ain't gotta say it twice
(In the Heights)
So turn up the stage lights
We're takin' a flight
To a couple days in the life of what it's like
En Washington Heights!