[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, spoken]
Ice cold piragua! Parcha. China. Cherry. Strawberry. And just for today, I got mamey!
[USNAVI, spoken]
Oye, piragüero, como estas?
[PIRAGUA GUY, spoken]
Como siempre, Señor Usnavi.
Ice cold piragua! Parcha...
[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
God damn, 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!
[ABUELA CLAUDIA, spoken]
Ooo-oo!
[USNAVI, spoken]
Abuela, my fridge broke. I got café but no "con leche."
[ABUELA CLAUDIA, spoken]
Ay Dios, try my mother's old recipe: one can of condensed milk
[USNAVI, spoken]
Nice. Oh wait, your lottery ticket—
[ABUELA CLAUDIA, spoken]
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 probably thinkin: "I'm up shit's creek!"
[WOMAN]
I've never been north of Ninety-Sixth Street!
[USNAVI]
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
[ENSEMBLE]
In the heights
I flip the lights and start my day
There are fights
[WOMEN]
And endless debts
[MEN]
And bills to pay
[ENSEMBLE]
In the Heights
I can't survive without café
[USNAVI]
I serve café
[ENSEMBLE]
'Cause tonight seems like a million years away!
En Washington—
[USNAVI]
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!
[KEVIN]
Good morning, Usnavi!
[USNAVI]
Pan caliente, café con leche!
[KEVIN]
Put twenty dollars on today's lottery
[USNAVI]
Okay, must be a lucky day
[KEVIN]
Gotta be!
[USNAVI]
Oh my God, you're so excited
[KEVIN]
My Nina flew in at 3 A.M. last night!
[USNAVI]
Sweet, Abuela's been cooking all week!
[KEVIN]
Compay, when I see you this weekend
[KEVIN & USNAVI]
Oh, we gonna eat!
[DANIELA]
So then Yesenia walks in the room—
[CARLA, spoken]
Aha…
[DANIELA]
She smells sex and cheap perfume!
[CARLA, spoken]
Ooh! Ooh!
[DANIELA]
It smells like one of those trees
That you hang from the rearview!
[CARLA, spoken]
Ai, no!
[DANIELA]
It's true! She screams, “Who's in there with you, Julio?”
[USNAVI, spoken]
Daniela
[DANIELA]
Grabs a bat and kicks in the door
[USNAVI, spoken]
Carla
[DANIELA]
He's in bed with José from the liquor store!
[CARLA/USNAVI/CUCA]
No me diga!
[USNAVI, spoken]
And that's Cuca, the salon ladies.
[DANIELA/CARLA/CUCA]
Thanks, Usnavi!
[USNAVI, spoken]
Sonny, you're late.
[SONNY, spoken]
Chillax, you know you love me.
[USNAVI]
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
[ENSEMBLE]
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!
[BENNY]
You ain't got no skills!
[USNAVI]
Benny!
[BENNY]
Yo, lemme get a—
[USNAVI]
Milky Way
[BENNY]
Yup, and lemme also get a—
[USNAVI]
Daily News—
[BENNY]
And a—
[USNAVI]
Post—
[BENNY]
And the 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, he can't keep me on the damn back burner!
[USNAVI]
Yes, he can
[BENNY]
I'm makin' moves, I'm makin' deals, but guess what?
[USNAVI]
What?
[BENNY]
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, spoken]
Man...
[BENNY]
Tell Vanessa how you feel, buy the girl a meal
On the real, or—
[BENNY/SONNY]
You ain't got no skills
[VANESSA, speaking on the phone]
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—
[BENNY, singing quietly]
Yo, here's your chance; ask her out right now!
[VANESSA]
I'll see you later, we can look at that lease!
[BENNY]
Yo, do somethin', 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]
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!
[USNAVI]
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
[ENSEMBLE]
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
[ENSEMBLE]
It reminds me that I came from miles away
[USNAVI]
D.R., P.R., we are not stoppin'
[ENSEMBLE]
In the Heights
[ABUELA CLAUDIA]
Every day, paciencia y fe (Ooh)
[USNAVI]
Until the day we go from poverty to stock options
[ENSEMBLE]
In the Heights
I've got today!
[USNAVI]
And today's all we got, so we cannot stop
This is our block!
[ENSEMBLE]
In the Heights, I hang my flag up on display
[PIRAGUA GUY]
Lo le lo le lo lai lai lo le!
[ENSEMBLE]
It reminds me that I came from miles away
[USNAVI, PIRAGUA GUY & NEIGHBORS]
My family came from miles away—
[ENSEMBLE]
In the Heights
It gets more expensive every day!
[USNAVI/PIRAGUA GUY/WOMEN/MEN]
Every day!
[ENSEMBLE]
And tonight is so far away—
[USNAVI (ENSEMBLE)]
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)
So turn up the street lights (Ah)
We're takin' a flight
To a couple of days in the life of what it's like
[ALL]
En Washington Heights!
