Chapaleando Barro: Muddy Memories

This upbeat dance tune—rendered immortal by Edgardo Donato's orchestra in 1938—carries a bittersweet memory of bygone times in the outskirts of Buenos Aires via poetic lyrics by the great Celedonio Flores.

Video and original castellano follows Tango Decoder's English-language version.

Chapaleando Barro 
(Splashing Mud) 

Letra : Celedonio Esteban Flores*
Música : Arturo Castillo

Barrio de casas bajas por el lado de Pompeya, donde puso la miseria Un brochazo de dolor. La patota de pibes juega al rango en el barro,* y en la esquina, un carro peludeando* se quedó. Barrio viejo de guapos y milongas viejo barrio mistongo, de arrabal, si me diera la cana, la vida qué papa sería, volverte a encontrar. Yo conozco tu rante apología la tristeza infinita de un hogar, la angustiosa tristeza de aquel ciego que el pobre Carriego, lo hiciera inmortal.

Barrio of low houses next to Pompeya,* where misery painted a brushstroke of pain. The gang of kids plays leap frog* in the mud and on the corner stands a cart sunk up to its axles.* Old barrio of guapos* and milongas* shabby, humble barrio at the city limits, if life should bring me there* how sweet it would* be to see you again. I know your vague apology, the infinite sadness of a home, the anguished sorrow of that blind man immortalized by poor Carriego.

Tango Decoder's English-language version and notes Copyright © 2014 by Michael Krugman.

NOTES

*Celedonio Esteban Flores: Poet and author (1896-1947) of numerous tangos including "Margot," "Mano a Mano," "Viejo Smoking," and "El bulín del la calle Ayacucho." Favorite lyricist of Carlos Gardel. Biography at TodoTango.com.

* Pompeya: Strongly working-class barrio in the south of Buenos Aires.

*Plays leapfrog: juega al rango.

*sunk up to its axles: peludeando, literally, armadillo-hunting. The term refers to the armadillo's habit of burrowing in the mud.  

*guapos and milongas: The guapo was a respected figure of the arrabal, a kind of local dandy, knife fighter, enforcer, and election fixer known for his strict code of moral behavior. Sometimes translated as the more general expression "tough guy," the guapo played a much more specific role in the arrabal. A neighborhood might have any number of tough guys, but it could only have one guapo.

Today the word milonga means any place where one goes to dance, especially to dance tango. However, at the time this song was recorded, the term had fallen into disuse; tango dances with live music were referred to as veladas or soirees and dances with recorded music were simply called bailes. The use of milonga in this lyric contributes to its old-fashioned, arrabalero mood.

* if life should bring me there: dar la cana is an Argentine slang expression meaning "to locate, to place, to surprise, or to take a person unawares." An alternate reading of the line is, "if life should surprise me."

* how sweet it would be: qué papa sería. The phrase denotes something easy or agreeable.

*blind man...Carriego. Evaristo Carriego, Argentine poet born in Paraná in 1883. This is probably a reference to his well-known poem, Has Vuelto. 

The blind man waits for you / most nights seated at the door.
He's quiet and he listens.
Faint memories of distant things, 
he recalls in silence, of things 
from the days when his eyes had tomorrows, 
of when he was young...a sweetheart...who knows!