Lights up on Washington Heights, at the break of the day
I wake up and got this little punk I gotta chase away
Pop the gate at the crack of dawn
Sing while I wipe down the awning
Hey y"ll, good morning

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 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

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 bill to pay
In the Heights
I can't survive without café
I serve café
'Cause tonight seems like a million years away
En Washington

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
150, 169, 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
And 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
En Washington

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 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
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'
You'll see he late nights (in the Heights)
You'll taste beans and rice
The syrups, and shaved ice (in the Heights)
I ain't gonna say it twice
(In the Heights) so turn up the stage lights
We're takin' a flight
To a couple of days in the life of what it's like
En Washington Heights