I was born in Puerto Rico
Came here when I was a child
Before I reached the age of sixteen
I was running with the 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 supper-time and the barrio is dark.
They see me but they don't recognize me
Some guy from Lexington and Park
And music from the windows
Painted rainbows in the 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 in sunlight, then I left these streets for good.
My days as short as they were wild.
I am Carlos Apache
Angel Soto
Frenchy Cordero
Babu Charlie Cruz
Tony Hernandez
Salvador Agron
Your faces blurred in every grainy photo
And fading headline of the Daily News
One year Wiltwyck School for Criminal Children,
3 years Auburn,
1 year Brooklyn House of D.,
8 years Dannemora,
1 year Sing-Sing,
1 year Attica,
5 years Greenhaven.
Twenty years inside,
today you are free.
You cannot even read your story
The pages piling up in shame
Before the words released 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
En la tierra hay bendito
I was born in Puerto Rico
El coqui de jibarito
I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
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