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Born In Puerto Rico « See All Songs

SALVADOR

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

SAL AND THE VAMPIRES

I was born in Puerto Rico
And my blood is taino
Spanish Caribbean in my soul

SALVADOR

We came here wearing summer clothes in winter
Hearts of sunshine in the cold
Your family rented this apartment
You’d watch the streetlamps 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

SAL AND THE VAMPIRES

I was born in Puerto Rico
Came here when I was a child

SALVADOR

Small change and sunlight, then I left these streets for good
My days as short as they were wild

CARLOS APACHE

I’m Carlos Apache

ANGEL SOTO

Angel Soto

FRENCHY CORDERO

Frenchy Cordero

BABU CHARLIE CRUZ

Babu Charlie Cruz

TONY HERNANDEZ

Tony Hernandez

SAL AND SALVADOR

Salvador Agrón

SALVADOR

Your faces blurred in every grainy photo
And fading headline of the Daily News

One year Wiltwych 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 Greenhaven
Twenty years inside, today we’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

CHORUS AND SALVADOR

I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
THE VAMPIRES

I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Ruerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Ruerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Ruerto Rico

© 1997 Lyrics by Paul Simon and Derek Walcott