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 y'all, good morning
 Ice cold piragua!
 Parcha, china, cherry, strawberry
 And just for today, I got mamey!
 Oye, piragüero, como 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 'cause I immigrated
 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
 'Cause I'm not makin' any profit if the coffee isn't light and sweet!
 Ooh-ooh
 Abuela, my fridge broke
 I got café but not con leche
 Ay Dios, try my mother's old recipe
 One can of condensed milk
 Nice
 Oh wait, your lottery ticket
 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
 'Cause 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 gets is mad cheap
 Good morning, Usnavi!
 Pan caliente, café con leche!
 Put 20 dollars on today's lottery
 Okay, must be a 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 (uh-huh)
 She smells sex and cheap perfume (uh-oh)
 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 José 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 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
 (I buy my coffee and I go)
 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, lemme get a- (Milky Way)
 Yup, and lemme also get a- (Daily News)
 And a- (Post) and the most important, my-
 Boss's 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
 No!
 No no no!
 No no no, no-no-no!
 No, 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
 Yo, 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...
 Yo, 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 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
 'Cause 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 (ooh)
 Until the day we go from poverty to stock options
 In the Heights, I've got today
 And 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 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 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 street lights (ah)
 We're takin' a flight to a couple of days
 In the life of what it's like
 En Washington Heights!