In The Heights

Lights up on Washington heights, up at the break of the day

I wake up and 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 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 making any profit if the coffee isn't light and sweet

Ooo oo

Abuela my fridge broke I got café but no con leche

Ay, Dios. Try my mother's old recipe

One can of condensed milk

Nice

Oh wait 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 96'th Street

Well you must take the A train

Even farther than Harlem to northern Manhattan and maintain

Get off at 181'st and take the escalator

I hope you're 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 twenty 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 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 rear view

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' maxipads

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

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 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-dee-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 the 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. Aw damn there she go

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 light a streetlight

Yeah I'm a streetlight, choking 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 me that I came form miles away

My family 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'

(in the Heights)You'll see the late nights

You'll taste beans and rice(in the Heights)

The syrups and shaved ice

I ain't gonna say it twice(in the Heights)

Turn up the streetlights

We're takin' a flight

To a couple of days in the life of what it's like

En Washington heights!