Real Women Have Curves Lyrics
Real Women Have Curves
[ANA]Take your shirt off
[CARMEN, spoken]
¿Qué? With these arms, it looks like a hammock
[ANA, sung]
Show some skin
[CARMEN, spoken]
A five-year-old could take a nap!
[ANA, sung]
Let your body
[ROSALÍ, spoken]
Pancha
[PANCHA]
What's the big deal?
[ANA, sung]
Breathe it in
[ESTELA, spoken]
I'm the boss, and I say we take it off!
[PANCHA, sung]
Some of us got stretch marks
[ESTELA]
Some, cellulite
[CARMEN]
Estela!
[FLACA]
Some of us got both
[ANA]
And that's alright
We all got the same
[CARMEN, spoken]
What's that?
[ANA, sung]
That voice inside
[CARMEN, spoken]
¿Qué voice?
[ANA]
The fire that makes us survive...
[ANA, ESTELA, FACTORY LADIES]
No matter what life throws our way
We can bend, we can dance, we can ricochet
When la vida g?ts hard, we know what to say
Real (Real) wom?n (Women) have curves
Real (Real) women (Women) have curves
[ESTELA]
We work harder
[PANCHA]
And get paid less
[CARMEN, spoken]
Yes, we do!
[FULVIA, FLACA, sung]
Come home burned out
[PANCHA]
Then clean their mess
[CARMEN, spoken]
I hear that...
[FACTORY LADIES, sung]
We're more than daughters
We're more than wives (We're more than wives)
[ANA]
And we'll keep fighting just to live our lives
[ANA, FACTORY LADIES]
We all got the same
[ROSALÍ, spoken]
I don't know...
[ANA, FACTORY LADIES, sung]
That voice inside
[ROSALÍ, spoken]
I don't hear it!
[ANA, FACTORY LADIES, sung]
The fire that makes us survive
No matter what curveballs they throw
We can bend, we can dance, let the music flow
La vida's la cumbia that we all know
Real (Real) women (Women) have curves
[ANA, spoken]
Come on!
[ANA, FACTORY LADIES, sung]
Real (Real) women (Women) have curves
[FACTORY LADIES]
Go Pancha! Go Pancha!
La reina de la plancha
[PANCHA]
Worked in the Palisades, trapped with the other maids
Fed up with sweat from the heat like the Everglades
I wasn't a nun, so I decided to run
Now I'm rollin' Lincoln Heights, havin' fights with my son
[ESTELA]
Estela in the house, I got all the hips you need
I can dance, I can sew, and I know how to lead
I'm an entrepreneur, yes, sir, I'm a designer
I make a dress to impress nobody finer
Yeah, I'm an outlaw like Pancho Villa
You mess with me, I'll eat you like a chicken quesadilla!
[FACTORY LADIES]
Real (Real) women (Women) have curves (Ay, por el amor de Dios)
Real (Real) women (Women) have curves
[CARMEN]
My name is Carmen, yo no sé how to rap
But that don't stop me, no, I always rhyme as I go
Came here from Mexico to Boyle Heights, sacrifice
Don't let life drag me down
I'm the queen of this town
[FACTORY LADIES]
¡La reina!
[CARMEN]
Call me la chingona, I'll be sipping my Corona
[ANA, FACTORY LADIES]
No matter what curveballs they throw (No matter what they throw)
We can bend, we can dance, let the music flow (Oh)
La vida's la cumbia that we all know (Know)
Real (Real) women (Women) have
Real (Real) women (Women) have
Real women have curves
Real women have curves
Song Overview
Song Credits
- Performers: Tatianna Córdoba, Justina Machado, Jennifer Sanchez, Carla Jimenez, Shelby Acosta & Sandra Valls
- Producer: Julio Reyes
- Writers: Benjamin Velez & Joy Huerta
- Release Date: June 6, 2025
- Album: Real Women Have Curves (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
- Genre: Pop–Cumbia fusion, Latin-Broadway
- Language: English with Spanish flourishes
- Label: Broadway Records
Song Meaning and Annotations
“Real Women Have Curves” explodes like a factory siren that turns into a block-party drumline. Set to a contagious cumbia backbeat, the number transforms a sweltering East L.A. sewing shop into a runway of unapologetic bodies and bigger-than-life rhymes. The women shed layers, literal and emotional, to flaunt stretch marks and self-worth in equal measure. It is part pep rally, part protest, and fully a celebration of Latina labor, laughter, and long-overdue self-love.
Musically, Julio Reyes’ production smashes together accordion-laced cumbia rhythms, pop hooks, and freestyle rap breaks that let each seamstress spit her own origin story. Lyrically, Velez and Huerta thread body-positivity through immigrant hustle: wage gaps, domestic pressures, and cultural pride dance side-by-side. By the last chorus, the factory has morphed into a communal shout of survival—real curves, real grind, real power.
“Some of us got stretch marks … Some, cellulite … And that’s alright”
“No matter what curveballs they throw / We can bend, we can dance, let the music flow”
“Estela in the house … I’m an entrepreneur … I’ll eat you like a chicken quesadilla!”
“La vida’s la cumbia that we all know”
Similar Songs
- “I Am Here” – The Color Purple: a gospel-infused affirmation of womanhood that, like this song, turns pain into triumphant testimony.
- “My Shot” – Hamilton: both anthems champion self-determination; one uses hip-hop patriotism, the other cumbia swagger.
- “I Enjoy Being a Girl” – Flower Drum Song: an earlier Broadway take on femininity, though “Real Women Have Curves” updates the message with intersectional, body-positive grit.
Questions and Answers
- Why do the women remove their shirts?
- It’s a symbolic strip-down of shame—claiming visibility for bodies usually hidden by labor and societal judgement.
- How does the rap section serve the story?
- Each rap break lets a character narrate her hustle and heritage, spotlighting individuality within the collective anthem.
- What does “la vida’s la cumbia” imply?
- Life is a perpetual dance: sometimes hectic, always rhythmic, best navigated together.
- Where does this song sit in the show’s arc?
- It’s the confidence crescendo, fusing personal empowerment with communal solidarity before final plot conflicts hit.
- Is “curves” only about body shape?
- No—curves double as life’s twists, workplace grind, and the cultural contours that shape identity.
Fan and Media Reactions
“A body-positive cumbia cypher? Broadway finally served the carne asada.”
“The rap verses turn sewing machines into turntables—electric.”
“Left the theater ready to flaunt every scar like sequins.”
“Spanglish sass, economic critique, dance-floor heat—this track does it all.”
“Call it a revolution stitched in neon thread.”