I was born in PuertoRico,
we came here when I was a child,
before I reached the age of 16
I was runnin' 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 window,
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 Carribean 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 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
I was born in Puerto Rico,
came here when I was a child
Small change and sunlight,
and 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 ev'ry grainy photo,
and fading headlines of the Daily News
Wyltwyck school for crimonal children,
Auburn, Brooklyn House of D.,
Dannemora, Sing-Sing, Attica,
Greenhaven, 20 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 (8x)