In The Heights

(album: In The Heights: A New Musical - 2008)

[USNAVI:]
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

[PIRAGUA GUY:]
Ice cold piragua! Parcha. China. Cherry. Strawberry. And just for today, I got mamey!

[USNAVI:]
Oye, piragüero, como estas?

[PIRAGUA GUY:]
Como siempre, Señor Usnavi.

[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!

[ABUELA CLAUDIA:]
Ooo-oo!

[USNAVI:]
Abuela, my fridge broke. I got café but no "con leche."

[ABUELA CLAUDIA:]
Try my mother's old recipe: one can of condensed milk.

[USNAVI:]
Nice.

[ABUELA CLAUDIA:]
Ay! Paciencia y fe...

[USNAVI:]
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 packing up and picking up
And ever since the rents went up
It's gotten mad expensive
But we live with just enough

[COMMUNITY:]
In the heights
I flip the lights and start my day
There are fights

[WOMEN:]
And endless debts

[MEN:]
And bills to pay

[COMMUNITY:]
In the Heights
I can't survive without café

[USNAVI:]
I serve café

[COMMUNITY:]
'Cuz tonight seems like a million years away!
En Washington...

[USNAVI:]
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!

[KEVIN:]
Good morning, Usnavi!

[USNAVI:]
Pan caliente, café con leche!

[KEVIN:]
Put twenty dollars on today's lottery

[CAMILA:]
One ticket, that's it!

[KEVIN:]
Hey! A man's gotta dream...

[CAMILA:]
Don't mind him, he's all excited
'Cuz Nina flew in at 3 A.M. last night!

[KEVIN:]
Don't look at me, this one's been cooking all week!

[CAMILA:]
Usnavi, come over for dinner

[KEVIN/CAMILA:]
There's plenty to eat!

[DANIELA:]
So then Yesenia walks in the room...

[CARLA:]
Aha..

[DANIELA:]
She smells sex and cheap perfume!

[CARLA:]
Uh oh..

[DANIELA:]
It smells like one of those trees
That you hang from the rear view!

[CARLA:]
Ah, no!

[DANIELA:]
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!

[CARLA/USNAVI:]
No me diga!

[USNAVI:]
Daniela and Carla, from the salon.

[DANIELA/CARLA:]
Thanks, Usnavi!

[USNAVI:]
Sonny, you're late.

[SONNY:]
Chillax, you know you love me.

[USNAVI:]
Me and my cousin running 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
Selling maxipads, fuzzy dice for taxicabs and practically
Everybody's stressed, yes!
But they press through the mess,
Bounce checks and wonder what's next

[COMMUNITY 1:]
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

[COMMUNITY 2:]
In the heights

I buy my coffee and...
Set my sights

What I need to know
In the heights
Money is tight

Even so

[COMMUNITY:]
When the lights go down I blast my radio!

[BENNY:]
You ain't got no skills!

[USNAVI:]
Benny!

[BENNY:]
Yo, lemme get a..

[USNAVI:]
Milky Way

[BENNY:]
Yeah, lemme also get a..

[USNAVI:]
Daily News..

[BENNY:]
And a..

[USNAVI:]
Post..

[BENNY:]
And most important, my..

[USNAVI:]
Boss' second coffee, one cream..

[BOTH:]
Five sugars

[BENNY:]
I'm the number one earner..

[USNAVI/SONNY:]
What?!

[BENNY:]
The fastest learner..

[USNAVI/SONNY:]
What?!

[BENNY:]
My boss can't keep me on the damn back burner!

[USNAVI:]
Yes, he can

[BENNY:]
I'm making moves, I'm making deals, but guess what?

[USNAVI:]
What?

[BENNY/SONNY:]
You still ain't got no skills!

[USNAVI:]
Hardee-har

[BENNY:]
Yo, Vanessa show up yet?

[USNAVI:]
Shut up!

[BENNY:]
Hey little homie, don't get so upset

[USNAVI:]
Man...

[BENNY:]
Tell Vanessa how you feel, buy the girl a meal
On the real, or you ain't got no skills

[VANESSA:]
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 saving to make a down payment and pay rent
No, no, I won't let you down...

[BENNY:]
Yo, here's your chance; ask her out right now!

[VANESSA:]
I'll see you later, we can look at that lease!

[BENNY:]
Do something, make your move, don't freeze!

[USNAVI:]
Hey!

[VANESSA:]
You owe me a bottle of cold champagne!

[USNAVI:]
Are you moving?

[VANESSA:]
Just a little credit check and I'm on that downtown train!

[USNAVI:]
Well, your coffee's on the house

[VANESSA:]
Okay!

[BENNY:]
Usnavi, ask her out

[SONNY:]
No way!

[VANESSA:]
I'll see you later, so...

[BENNY:]
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!

[USNAVI:]
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 rolling down the street
But every day is different so I'm switching 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

[COMMUNITY:]
In the Heights, I hang my flag up on display

[USNAVI:]
We came to work and to live and we got a lot in common

[COMMUNITY:]
It reminds me that I came from miles away

[USNAVI:]
D.R., P.R., we are not stopping

[COMMUNITY:]
In the Heights
Ooh..

In the Heights
I've got today!

[ABUELA CLAUDIA:]
Every day, paciencia y fe

[USNAVI:]
Until the day we go from poverty to stock options

[USNAVI:]
And today's all we got, so we cannot stop
This is our block!

[COMMUNITY:]
In the Heights
I hang my flag up on display

[PIRAGUA GUY:]
Lo le lo le lo lai lai lo le!

[COMMUNITY:]
It reminds me that I came from miles away

[USNAVI/PIRAGUA GUY/NEIGHBORS:]
My family came from miles away...

[COMMUNITY:]
In the Heights
It gets more expensive every day

[USNAVI/PIRAGUA GUY/WOMEN/MEN:]
Every day

[COMMUNITY:]
And tonight is so far away...

[USNAVI:]
But as for mañana, mi pana
Ya gotta just keep watching

[USNAVI:]
You'll see the
late nights
You'll taste
beans and rice
The syrups and
shaved ice
I ain't gonna
say it twice

[BENNY/GRAFFITI PETE/MEN:]
Late nights!
Beans and rice!
Shaved ice!
Say it twice!

[COMMUNITY:]
In the Heights!
In the Heights!
In the Heights!

[USNAVI:]
So turn up the stage lights
We're taking a flight
To a couple of days
in the life of what it's like

[ALL:]
En Washington Heights!