In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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, ¿cómo 'tá'?)
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!
(Ooo-oo!)
Abuela, my fridge broke
I got café but no 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 twenty 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!
Compai when I see you this weekend
Are we gonna eat?
So then Yesenia walks in the room
(Aha)
She smells sex and cheap perfume
(Oh no)
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, 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' 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)
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
En Washington Heights!
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, ¿cómo 'tá'?)
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!
(Ooo-oo!)
Abuela, my fridge broke
I got café but no 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 twenty 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!
Compai when I see you this weekend
Are we gonna eat?
So then Yesenia walks in the room
(Aha)
She smells sex and cheap perfume
(Oh no)
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, 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' 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)
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
En Washington Heights!
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
In The Heights Lyrics as written by Lin-manuel Miranda
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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