Paciencia Y Fe

Calor, calor, calor

Calor, calor, calor

¡Ay mamá!

The summer's hottest day!

¡Paciencia y fe!

¡Paciencia y fe!

Ay, carajo, it's hot!

But that's okay!

Mamá would say, "paciencia y fe"

It was hotter at home in La Víbora

The Washington Heights of Havana

A crowded city of faces the same as mine

Back as a child in La Víbora

I chased the birds in the plaza

Praying, mamá, you would find work

Combing the stars in the sky for some sort of sign

Ay, mamá, 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 Víbora

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

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

Mamá needs a job, mamá 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 mamá!

It wasn't like today, you'd say

Paciencia y fe (Paciencia y fe)

Paciencia y fe (Paciencia y fe)

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 La Guardia

All of society welcoming mami and me

Ha

You better clean this mess (Paciencia y fe)

You better learn inglés (Paciencia y fe)

You better not be late

You better pull your weight

Are you better off than you were with the birds of La Víbora?

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 (ay mamá)

And ay mamá

What do you do when your dreams come true? (ay mamá)

I've spent my life inheriting dreams from you

What do I do with this winning ticket?

What can I do but pray?

I buy my loaf of bread

Continue with my day

And see you in my head

Imagining what you'd say

The birds, they fly away

Do they fly to La Víbora?

ay

Alright, mamá

Okay

Paciencia y fe

Calor, calor, calor