In The Heights - In the Heights Opening Lyrics

2008 Broadway
In The Heights the Musical - In the Heights Lyrics

Original song "In the Heights" is written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

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 ya'll good morning

PIRAGUA GUY: Ice cold piragua!
Parcha. China. Cherry. Strawberry.
Just for today, I got mamey!

USNAVI: Oye, piraguero, como estas?

PIRAGUA GUY: Como siempre, Senor 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
(He sniffs the milk carton) 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 making any profit if the coffee isn't light and sweet!

ABUELA CLAUDIA: Ooo-ooo!

USNAVI: Abuela, my fridge broke.
I've got cafe, 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 on shit's creek
I never been north of 96th street"
Well you must take the A train
Even farther than Harlem
To norther Manhattan and maintain
Get off at 181st and take the escalator
I hope your writing 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 neighborhood started packin up and pickin 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 my lights and start my day
There are fights
(Girls) And endless debts
(Boys) And bills to pay
In the heights
I can't survive without cafe

USNAVI: I serve cafe

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, cafe 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 just flew in at 3 AM 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 walk in the room
She smells sex and cheap perfume
It smells like one of those trees that you hang from the rear view
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

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 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-
1 dollar, 2 dollar, 1.50, 1.69
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 and fuzzy dice for taxicabs and practically
Everybody's stressed, yes, but they press through the mess
Bounce checks and wonder what's next

COMMUNITY: 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
When the lights go down I blast my radio

BENNY: You ain't got no skills

USNAVI: Benny!

BENNY: 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: 5 sugars

BENNY: I'm the #1 earner
The fastest learner
My boss 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/SONNY: You still ain't got no skills

USNAVI: Hardee-har

BENNY: Vanessa show up yet?

USNAVI: Shut up!

BENNY: Hey little homie don't get so upset
Tell Vanessa how you feel
Buy the girl a meal
On the real
Or you ain't got no skills

VANESSA: (on the phone) 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

BENNY: (to Usnavi) Yo, here's your chance ask her out right now.

VANESSA: I'll see you later we can look at that lease. (She hangs up.)

BENNY: (to Usnavi) 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: (under his breath to Usnavi) Usnavi, ask her out

USNAVI: No way

VANESSA: I'll see you later, so...(she exits)

BENNY: Ooh, smooth operator, aw damn there she go!
Yo, bro, take 5, 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 (exits)

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 rolling 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

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: DR, PR, we are not stoppin

COMMUNITY: In the heights

ABUELA CLAUDIA: Every day, paciencia y fe

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

COMMUNITY: In the heights
I've got today

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

COMMUNITY: In the heoghts
I hang my flag up on display

PIRAGUA GUY: Lo le lo le lo lai lai lo le

COMMUNITY: It reminds that I came from miles away

USNAVI/PIRAGUA GUY/OTHERS:
My family came from miles away

COMMUNITY: In the heights
It gets more expensive every day
And tonight is so far away-

USNAVI: But as for manana, mi pana
Ya gotta keep watchin
You'll see the late night
You'll taste beans and rice
The syrups and shaved ice,
I ain't gotta say it twice
So turn up the stage lights
We're takin a flight
To a couple days
In the life of what it's like

ALL: En Washington Heights!


Read more: In The Heights the Musical Lyrics

2008 Broadway
In The Heights: the Musical Lyrics


SYNOPSIS
In the Heights Opening
Breathe
Benny's Dispatch
It Won't Be Long Now
Inutil
No Me Diga
96,000
Paciencia y Fe (Patience and Faith)
When You're Home
Piragua
The Club
Blackout
Sunrise
Hundreds of Stories
Enough
Carnaval Del Barrio
Atencion
Alabanza
Everything I Know
Piragua (Reprise)
Champagne
When the Sun Goes Down
Finale