Don’t Forget 127th Street

[RONNIE, spoken]
And when you're downtown sipping champagne with your high class white friends, don't forget this glorious environment which molded your character. Don't forget your roots! Ha ha ha...

(sung)
Don't forget 127th Street

[RONNIE AND MALE ENSEMBLE]
Don't forget your happy Harlem home
Don't forget 127th Street

[RONNIE]
No sirree, there's no slum like your own!

[JOE]
I remember winter evenings at that window
Watching those evictions in the snow

[RONNIE AND FEMALE ENSEMBLE]
Oh, no, Joe!
Don't forget 127th Street

[RONNIE]
A little bit of heaven!

[ENSEMBLE]
Wherever you may go

[RONNIE]
Don't forget the cultural life on this here street

[RONNIE AND ENSEMBLE]
Richer than the outside world suspects
Hark! The cheerful patter of all the junkies' feet

[JOE]
And the soothing tones of Malcolm X

[RONNIE]
Each night we hasten to our spotless subway
Riding home is always such a treat
Oh, no, Joe!

[RONNIE AND ENSEMBLE]
Don't forget our beautiful old ancestral home

[RONNIE]
An angel named it Harlem!

[ENSEMBLE]
Called 1-2-7th Street

[Dance break]

[JOE, spoken]
Ronnie, Ronnie, now that I've seen you dance, I am firmly convinced that we ain't all born with it

[Dance break]

[ENSEMBLE]
Remember moonlight on the Harlem River

[JOE]
And the cops all strolling two by two

[ENSEMBLE]
Oh, no, Joe!
Don't forget 127th Street

[JOE]
Our dandy little ghetto!

[ENSEMBLE]
Whatever you may do

[FEMALE ENSEMBLE]
Don't forget 127th Street
Here where you were born and raised and fed
Even as a baby, you always smiled so sweet

[JOE]
When the falling plaster hit my head

Sure, when I'm driving in my big Ferrari
With some luscious rich chick as my pet
Believe me
How I'll miss this beautiful '27th Street
Ladies and gentlemen, I assure you!
I'll miss it every chance I get!

[CHILD ENSEMBLE]
Don't forget our glorious P.S. 42
With the ninety kids in every class
Radiators full of ice all winter through
Man, oh, man, you really freeze your-

[RONNIE]
H is for the heroin they sell here

[JOE]
A is for the alleys where kids play

[RONNIE]
R is for the rats that run pell-mell here

[JOE]
And L is for the landlords, far away

[RONNIE]
E is for the endless clean-up projects

[JOE]
And M is for the moldy roofs above

[JOE AND RONNIE]
Put them all together, they spell Harlem
Woah yeah!

[JOE]
You nitwit...
The place that white folks think we love

[Dance break]

[JOE]
'Cause when I'm far away, Lord, in some strange city

[ENSEMBLE]
All alone and feeling mighty blue
Oh, no, Joe
Don't forget 127th Street
For 127th Street will never forget-

[JOE]
The neighborhood is classy
We got rats as big as Lassie

[ENSEMBLE]
'7th Street will never forget-

[RONNIE]
Keep your mink and ermine
We got fifty kinds of vermin

[ENSEMBLE]
'7th Street will never forget-

[JOE]
Hey, we got a right to howl
We got Adam Clayton Powell!

[ENSEMBLE]
'7th Street will never forget you!

[ALL]
Oh yeah!