[USNAVI]
N.C.
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 ?
[USNAVI]
Bb D7
I am Usnavi and you prob’ly never heard my name
Gm Eb
Reports of my fame are greatly exaggerated
Bb D7
Exacerbated by the fact that my syntax
Gm Eb
Is highly complicated 'cuz I emigrated
Bb D7
From the single greatest little place in the Caribbean
Gm
Dominican Republic
I love it
Eb
Jesus I’m jealous of it
Bb D7
And beyond that
Ever since my folks passed on
Gm
I haven’t gone back
N.C.
Goddamn I gotta get on that
Bb D7
Fo The milk has gone bad hold up just a second
Gm Eb
Why is everything in this fridge warm and tepid
Bb D7
I better step it up and fight the heat
Gm Eb
Cuz 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
Try my mother’s old recipe one can of condensed milk
USNAVI spoken
Nice ?
Usnavi give Abuela Claudia her lottery tickets which she kisses and holds up to the sky
ABUELA CLAUDIA spoken
Ay Paciencia y fe…
[USNAVI]
Bb D7
That was Abuela she’s not really my “abuela ”
Gm Eb
But she practically raised me this corner is her escuela
Bb
Now you’re prob’ly thinkin
D7
I’m up shit’s creek
Gm Eb
I've never been north of Ninety-Sixth Street ”
N.C.
Well you must take the A Train
Bb D7
Even farther than Harlem to northern Manhattan and maintain
Gm Eb
Get off at 1 1st and take the escalator
N.C.
I hope you’re writing this down I’m gonna test ya later
Bb D7
I’m getting tested times are tough on this bodega
Gm Eb
Two months ago somebody bought Ortega’s
Bb D7
Our neighbors started packin’ up and pickin’ up
And ever since the rents went up
Gm Eb
It’s gotten mad expensive
But we live with just enough
[COMMUNITY]
Gm
In the heights
F Eb D7
I flip the lights and start my da-ay
Gm
There are fights
[WOMEN]
F
And endless debts
[MEN]
Eb D7
And bills to pay
[COMMUNITY]
Gm F
In the Heights
I can’t survive without café
[USNAVI]
Eb D7
I serve café
[COMMUNITY]
Gm F Eb D7
Cuz tonight seems like a million years away
En Washington—
[USNAVI]
Bb D7
Next up to bat the Rosarios
Gm Eb
They run the cab company ?
They struggle in the barrio
Bb D7
See their daughter Nina’s off at college tuition is mad steep
Gm
So they can’t sleep
Eb
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 spoken
Aha…
[DANIELA]
She smells sex and cheap perfume
CARLA spoken
Uh oh…
[DANIELA]
It smells like one of those trees
That you hang from the rear view
CARLA spoken
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 spoken
Daniela and Carla from the salon ?
DANIELA/CARLA
Thanks Usnavi
USNAVI spoken
Sonny you’re late ?
SONNY spoken
Chillax you know you love me ?
[USNAVI]
Bb D7
Me and my cousin runnin’ just another dime-a-dozen
Gm Eb
Mom-and-pop stop-and-shop
And oh my god it’s gotten
Bb D7
Too darn hot like my man Cole Porter said
Gm Eb
People come through for a few cold waters and
Bb D7
A lottery ticket just a part of the routine
Gm Eb
Everybody’s got a job everybody’s got a dream
Bb D7
They gossip as I sip my coffee and smirk
Gm Eb
The first stop as people hop to work
Bust it— I’m like
C C7
One dollar two dollars one fifty one sixty-nine ?
F F7
I got it You want a box of condoms What kind
C C7
That’s two quarters ?
Two quarter waters The New York Times ?
F F7
You need a bag for that The tax is added ?
Once you get some practice at it
C C7
You do rapid mathematics automatically
F F7
Sellin’ maxipads fuzzy dice for taxicabs and practically
C C7
Everybody’s stressed yes
F D7
But they press through the mess ?
Bounce checks and wonder what’s next
COMMUNITY 1
Gm F Eb D7
In the heights
I buy my coffee and I go
Gm F Eb D7
Set my sights
On only what I need to know
Gm F Eb D7
In the heights
Money is tight
But even so
[COMMUNITY]
Gm F Eb D7
When the lights go down I blast my radio