Warning: SPOILERS ahead for In The Heights.
Jon M. Chu's movie adaptation of Broadway hit In The Heights cuts some of the songs from the stage musical and adds a brand new track, "Home All Summer," written just for the movie. To celebrate the release of In The Heights in theaters and on HBO Max, we're ranking every song in the movie from worst to best.
In The Heights was Lin-Manuel Miranda's first Broadway musical, before he become a household name with the mega-hit show Manhattan borough of Washington Heights for most of his life, but dreams of moving back to the Dominican Republic. The movie's ensemble cast also includes Leslie Grace, Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, and Olga Merediz, with original Broadway cast Lin-Manuel Miranda and Chris Jackson also appearing as a feuding piragua seller (Miranda) and ice cream truck proprietor (Jackson).
The music of In The Heights blends hip-hop, rap and Latin music with more conventional Broadway ballads to create a rich and energetic soundtrack for the summer. Here's every song that appears in the movie, ranked from best to worst.
#17 Champagne
Usnavi and Vanessa dance around each other (sometimes literally) for most of In The Heights, with Usnavi constantly sabotaging himself and Vanessa left unsure if he's even interested. "Champagne" is an effective encapsulation of this odd relationship, with Vanessa trying to tempt Usnavi to stay in Washington Heights, while Usnavi is too fixated on figuring out how to open the champagne bottle to engage with her. It's a sweet and humorous duet, but also one of In The Heights' less memorable songs.
#16 Piragua
Lin-Manuel Miranda's cheerful neighborhood piragüero appears throughout In The Heights, and his song "Piragua" gets a fun reprise in the movie's post-credits scene. It's a light and fun little jingle that's certainly effective for selling shaved ice on a hot day, but the "scraping by" pun somewhat outstays its welcome.
#15 When the Sun Goes Down
Benny and Nina's farewell song at the end of the summer is somewhat overshadowed in the movie by the accompanying dance sequence, in which the couple defy gravity to dance along the wall of one of Washington Heights' brownstones. With the soft, warm light of the sun setting on the horizon, it's a lovely scene that's served well by the accompanying song.
#14 Alabanza
In The Heights' scenes immediately following Abuela Claudia's death are filled with an eerie silence that's not found anywhere else in the movie. It gives the moment essential room to breathe, and "Alabanza" is the song that brings Washington Heights out of the silence - starting softly and rising to a ionate crescendo as the people of the barrio hold a candlelight vigil outside Abuela's building.
#13 The Club
Like "When the Sun Goes Down," "The Club" is another track where the song isn't really the star of the show, but the ing act for a frenetic and mesmerizing dance sequence set in a "Fiesta in The Heights" club night. Once again the awkward interplay of poor communication between Usnavi and Vanessa is on display, as Usnavi first chatters to his crush out of nervousness, then mistakenly tries to play it cool by letting her dance with other men, and finally tries to play even harder to get by finding a "ghetto flower" to dance with - a decision that backfires.
#12 Finale
As a classic Broadway ending medley song, "Finale" features snippets from some of In The Heights' greatest hits. In the movie adaptation, this is also where the big twist is revealed: that Usnavi never actually left Washington Heights, and he's been telling the kids the story of his life not on a beach in the Dominican Republic, but from behind the counter of his bodega. It doesn't quite have the same power as Hamilton's ending medley "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story," but it's uplifting and joyful enough to leave the audience smiling as the credits roll.
#11 When You're Home
The first of Benny and Nina's romantic duets, "When You're Home" runs the emotional gamut from joy to despair. Benny welcomes Nina home from Stanford by taking her around her old block, but returning to the place where she grew up sends Nina into a spiral about her identity - wondering whether her real home is perhaps in Puerto Rico, and why she failed to settle in and make a place for herself when she went off to college.
#10 No Me Diga
The salon ladies - Daniela (Daphne Rubin-Vega), Carla (Stephanie Beatriz) and Cuca (Dascha Polanco) are the biggest scene-stealers of In The Heights, and their song "No Me Diga" (which roughly translates as "You don't say!") is pure gossipy fun. In Chu's adaptation, the hubbub of the salon is enhanced with VFX so that even the wig mannequins on the shelves show in an interest in the latest barrio news. "No Me Diga" is, like all the best gossip, catchy enough to be worth repeating.
#9 Benny's Dispatch
Though it may not technically be counted as a classic romantic duet, "Benny's Dispatch" is In The Heights' best song for selling the connection between Benny and Nina, with a playful exchange as Benny invites her to get back on the dispatch radio for old time's sake. It's also a great introduction to Benny as a character, and sells the movie's central idea that the familiar and routine parts of life - like Benny's morning patter on the radio - can offer more happiness than even the best suenitos.
#8 Home All Summer
"Home All Summer," the brand-new track written for the In The Heights movie adaptation, is a basic but effective pop song that's easy to dance to and even easier to get stuck in your head. Playing over the movie's credits, the lyrics for "Home All Summer" are pretty generic, but on the plus side that means it's the easiest song to enjoy out of the context of the musical and could very well become a standalone hit.
