Born In Puerto Rico (Original Broadway Cast)

I was born in Puerto Rico

Came here when I was a child

Before I reached the age of sixteen

I was running with a gang

And we were wild

I see myself those summer evenings

Hanging out with boys from Lexington and Park

Red beans and rice from kitchen windows

It's suppertime and the barrio is dark

No one knows you like I do

Nobody can know your heart the way I do

No one can testify to all that you've been through

But I will

I was born in Puerto Rico

And my blood is Taino

Spanish Caribbean, my soul

We came here wearing summer clothes in winter

Hearts of sunshine in the cold

Your family rented this apartment

You'd watch the street lamps from your perch

In the sacramental hour

Your stepfather in black

Preached the fire

Of the Pentecostal Church

No one knows you like I do

Nobody can know your heart the way I do

No one can testify to all that you've been through

But this will

I was born in Puerto Rico

Came here when I was a child

Small change and sunlight

Then I left these streets for good

My days as short as they were wild

I'm Carlos Apache

Angel Soto

Frenchy Cordero

Babu Jelly Cruz

Tony Hernandez

Salvador Agron

Your face is blurred in every grainy photo

And fading headline of the Daily News

One year, Woodwick School for Criminal Children

Three years, Auburn

One year, Brooklyn House of D

Eight years, Dannemora

One year, Sing Sing

One year, Attica

Five years, Green Haven

Twenty years inside

Today we're free

You cannot even read your story

The pages piling up in shame

Before the words release you

The guard will kill the light

The night you took the Capeman for your name

I was born in Puerto Rico

I was born in Puerto Rico

I was born in Puerto Rico

En la tierra del Aibekito

I was born in Puerto Rico

El Coquitambarito

I was born in Puerto Rico

A la tierra de la montaña

I was born in Puerto Rico

Tierra de Hontos y Riveras

I was born in Puerto Rico

En la linda Borinquen

I was born in Puerto Rico

I was born in Puerto Rico