"Carillón de la Merced," in the 1931 version by the Típica Victor, starts with church bells that strongly evoke a wedding, though isn't about a wedding at all. It's about a rather unusual pilgrimage, romantic rather than religious, to the basilica of Santiago de la Merced in Chile. It was composed by the great Enrique Santos Discépolo (Cambalache) and written by him and Alfredo Le Pera. The lyrics are a bit obscure, but here's what I was able to make of it:
Carillón de la Merced
Music: Enrique Discépolo
Lyrics: Enrique Discépolo, Alfredo Le Pera
I don’t even know how I found my way to you,
Church-bells of Santiago de la Merced*
with your immutable voice,
the voice of my wanderings,
the voice of an incorrigible traveler
who wants to forget.
Milagro peregrino
--pilgrim’s miracle--
drenched with tears.
Your singing, like me,
tires of living,
swings this way and that,
without finding a place to die...
You fathomed the secret
of my heart,
for hearing your sound
I unwittingly named "her."
So now you know
who she was,
the one who left me,
the one I seek, weeping,
the one I’ll never find!
My old secret,
I leave it with you, Carillón.
It keeps on tolling,
and I, turning to go,
take your emotion
as a goodbye.
*The Basilica de la Merced is a basilica located in Santiago, Chile. It was founded by the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy and constructed in 1795. It is a Chilean National Monument. It is Neo-Renaissance in architecture and has a small museum with religious objects and art, including a collection of pieces from Easter Island. The collection includes a rongorongo tablet, one of 29 left in the world.
Carillón de la Merced
Yo no sé por qué extraña
razón te encontré,
Carillón de Santiago
que está en la Merced,
con tu voz inmutable,
la voz de mi andar,
de viajero incurable
que quiere olvidar.
Milagro peregrino
que un llanto combinó.
Tu canto, como yo,
se cansa de vivir
y rueda sin saber
dónde morir...
Penetraste el secreto
de mi corazón,
porque oyendo tu son
la nombré sin querer.
Y es así como hoy sabes
quién era y quién fue,
¡la que busco llorando
y... que no encontraré!
Mi vieja confidencia
te dejo, Carillón.
Se queda en un tañir,
y al volver a partir
me llevo tu emoción
como un adiós.
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