Paciencia Y Fe

Calor! Calor! Calor!

Calor! Calor! Calor!

Ay, Mama!

The summer's hottest day

Paciencia y fe

Paciencia y fe

It was hotter at home in La Vibora

The Washington Heights of Havana

A crowded city of faces the same as mine

Back as a child in La Vibora

I chased the birds in the plaza

Praying, "Mama, you would find work"

Combing the stars in the sky for some sort of sign

Ay, Mama, so many stars in Cuba

En Nueva York, we can't see beyond our streetlights

To reach the roof, you gotta bribe the supa

Ain't no Cassiopeia in Washington Heights

But ain't no food in La Vibora

I remember nights, anger in the streets, hunger at the windows

Women folding clothes, playing with my friends in the summer rain

Mama needs a job, Mama says we're poor

One day, you say, "Vamos a Nueva York"

And Nueva York was far, but Nueva York had work

And so we came

And now I'm wide awake

A million years too late

I talk to you, imagining what you'd do

Remembering what we went through

Nueva York! Ay, Mama!

It wasn't like today, you'd say

Paciencia y fe (Paciencia y fe)

Paciencia y fe (Paciencia y)

Fresh off the boat in America

Freezing in early December

A crowded city in 1943

Learning the ropes in America

En español, I remember

Dancing with Mayor Laguardia

All of society welcoming Mami and me! Ha!

You better clean this mess!

Paciencia y fe

You better learn ingles!

Paciencia y fe

You better not be late

You better pull your weight

Are you better off then you were with the birds of La Vibora?

Sharing double beds, trying to catch a break, struggling with English

Listening to friends, finally got a job working as a maid

So we cleaned some homes, polishing with pride

Scrubbing the whole of the Upper East Side

The days into weeks, the weeks into years

And here I stayed (Paciencia y fe, Paciencia y fe, Paciencia y fe)

And as I feed these birds

My hands begin to shake

And as I say these words

My heart's about to break (and ay, Mama!)

And ay, Mama!

What do you do when your dreams come true? (and ay, Mama!)

I've spent my life inheriting dreams from you

I made it through, I survived, I did it

Now, do I leave or stay?

Alright, Mama, okay

Paciencia y fe! (Calor! Calor! Calor!)