#18 - In the Heights Ranking

We've been through "Atención", "The Club", "Benny's Dispatch", "Hundreds of Stories" and "Alabanza".  It took me a while to figure everything out but I finally finished putting everything in order.
Number 18 is "Champagne".

Here, the rhymes are not the most important thing, but the message. In fact, "Champagne" is more of a musicalized dialogue rather than a song.

VANESSA:

So I got you a present

I went downtown to get it

Doing anything tonight?

USNAVI:

Cleaning.

VANESSA:

Done for the day

USNAVI:

No way

VANESSA:

‘Cuz we got a date

USNAVI:

Okay—

VANESSA:

Before you board that plane

I owe you a bottle of cold champagne.

This song mirrors two of the interactions between Usnavi and Vanessa during the show. Here we can see elements from "In the Heights" and "UIt Won't be Long Now". Now is Vanessa the one who asks if he is doing "anything tonight" and pays the bet she had with him, which is brought up in the first number of the show. Also, the "no way" is said in a similar way as Vanessa says "okay" during "In the Heights".

USNAVI:

I don’t know if we have coffee cups

Or plastic cups, I think Sonny has the cups—

VANESSA:

Tonight we’re drinking straight from the bottle. 

From what we know, Vanessa was usually oblivious to the fact that Usnavi was trying to flirt with her. Now he's the one who doesn't realize it or is trying to dismiss it; most likely the first one. 

This "we're drinking straight from the bottle" means two things here. They literally are going to have to drink straight from the bottle because the cups are gone. But it's also a metaphor for seizing life while they can. 

Drinking champagne is a celebration, and the act of not even waiting to pour some in a cup means that you're eager to do it. Vanessa knows they don't have much time left together, so she wants to enjoy it as much as possible. 

VANESSA:

Before we both leave town!

Before the corner changes and the signs are taken down

Let’s walk around the neighborhood and say our goodbyes

Usnavi, are you alright?

USNAVI:

I’m fine, I’m tryn’a open this champagne

See the twisty thing is broken

But I’m gonna open this damn champagne!

Usnavi always gets overly talkative and nervous whenever Vanessa is around, but right now he's quiet, and focusing his attention on the damn champagne instead of focusing on her. The girl of his dreams is asking him on a date and this guy is entitled to open the bottle. 

This could be him trying to change the subject and avoid talking about how he's about to leave. 

USNAVI:

I mean you went to all this trouble to get us a little bubbly—

VANESSA:

And it’s gonna be okay

USNAVI:

I’m sorry, it’s been a long day

VANESSA:

You oughta stay

USNAVI:

What?

VANESSA:

You can use that money to fix this place

USNAVI:

Ha ha, very funny

VANESSA:

And it’s not like Sonny’s got role models—

USNAVI:

Role models?

VANESSA:

Stepping up to the plate—

USNAVI:

Yo, what are you talking about?

VANESSA:

I’m just saying, I think your vacation can wait—

USNAVI:

Vacation? Vanessa, you’re leaving too—

VANESSA:

I’m going down to West Fourth Street; you can take the A—

USNAVI:

What are you trying to say?

VANESSA:

You’re leaving the country, and we’re never gonna see you again—

USNAVI:

What are you trying to say?

VANESSA:

You get everyone addicted to your coffee then off you go

USNAVI:

Vanessa, I don’t know why you’re mad at me

VANESSA:

I wish I was mad—

I’m just too late.

This bit is an argument, as it is. However, Vanessa never says "I'm going to miss you". She mentions Sonny, and the rest of the neighbourhood who are going to miss Usnavi, but it's never her. Here's where the subtext lies. Because in "96,000" Vanessa dreams of leaving and she even says "you'll never see me again", but now she has an issue. During "96,000", everyone was being hypothetical, just saying what they would do if they won the lotto. But now Usnavi has some of the lotto money and it's not so hypothetical anymore. 

Also, she doesn't say "I'm never gonna see you again", she says "we're". She's been dropping hints and Usnavi doesn't get it until she kisses him. 

She wishes she was mad because it would probably be easier for her to accept his departure instead of trying to make him stay. 

All throughout the show, Vanessa has been either ignoring or hiding her feelings for Usnavi and now she knows it's too late. (Sad.)

-A.