I was born in Puerto Rico
We came here when I was a child
Before I reached the age of sixteen
I was running with the gang and we were wild.

He keeps looking but he don't recognize me
Some guy from Lexington or Park
Red beans and rice from kitchen windows
It's supper-time 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 Charlie Cruz
Your features blurred in every grainy photo
And fading headline of the Daily News.

Wiltwyck School for Criminal Children
Auburn, Brooklyn House of D.
Dannemora, Sing-Sing, Attica, Greenhaven
Twenty years inside, today you're free.

You cannot even read your story
The pages piling up in shame
Before the words released you, the guard would 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
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.