LA GAYOLA: The cage

"They locked me up for many years in that filthy cage, and one afternoon they let me go... for good or for ill. I wandered the streets aimlessly; How many times I stood on line just to eat a plate of soup! Daybreak found me asleep on a doorstep...."

"Lyricist Armando Tagini [right] was born June 9, 1906, in Buenos Aires and died in San Andrés (BsAs province) on July 13, 1962. In his youth he was a singer and his earliest tango lyrics date from that time. LA GAYOLA debuted in 1926 and was recorded by Carlos Gardel in 1927. In that same year, Tagini and (José) Guichandut’s PERFUME DE MUJER (Scent of a woman) won second prize in one of the famous  contests of the Glücksmann recording and publishing house.... MARIONETA was written in 1928. MISA DE ONCE was nominated for Glücksmann's Grand Prize in 1929. 'A writer of exceptional talent,' wrote Horacio Ferrer, 'some of his works, especially MARIONETA, anticipated currents that would show up only  later in the literature of tango, with Homero Manzi at the head.' That tango and MISA DE ONCE are marked by refined language and romantic inspiration unusual for the time." (from HermanoTango.com, translation Tango Decoder)

Other Tagini lyrics include GLORIA (!), EL CORNETÍN DE TRANVÍA, EL RECODO, MENTA Y CEDRÓN, and NO AGUANTO MÁS.

[Illustration from Diario El Litoral, ellitoral.com]

LA GAYOLA (The cage)
Lyrics: Armando Tagini 
Music: Rafael tuegols
1927

YouTube:
Carlos Gardel (1927)
Edmundo Rivera/Horacio Salgán
Rodriguez/Moreno (1941) 

Lomuto/Diaz - La Gayola (1941)

No te asustes ni me huyas, no he venido pa' vengarme; si mañana, justamente, ya me voy pa' no volver... He venido a despedirme y el gustazo quiero darme de mirarte frente a frente y en tus ojos campanearme, silencioso, largamente, como me miraba ayer. He venido pa'que juntos recordemos el pasado como dos buenos amigos que hace rato no se ven; a acordarme de aquel tiempo en que yo era un hombre honrado, y el cariño de mi vieja era un poncho que había echado sobre mi alma noble y buena contra el frío del desdén. Una noche, la huesuda me vistió el alma de duelo: a mi buena madrecita la llamó a su lado Dios; y en mis sueños parecía que la pobre, desde el cielo, me decía que eras buena, que confiara siempre en vos. Pero me jugaste sucio y, sediento de venganza, mi cuchillo, en un mal rato lo envainé en un corazón, y más tarde, ya sereno, muerta mi única esperanza, unas lágrimas rebeldes las sequé en un bodegón. Me encerraron muchos años en la sórdida gayola y una tarde me largaron... pa' mi bien o pa' mi mal... fui vagando por las calles y rodé como una bola,* pa' comer un plato'e sopa ¡cuántas veces hice cola! Las auroras me encontraron atorrando en un umbral. Hoy ya no me queda nada, ni un refugio, estoy tan pobre; solamente vine a verte pa' dejarte mi perdón. Te lo juro, estoy contento que la dicha a vos te sobre. Voy al campo a laburarla pa' juntar algunos cobres, pa' que no me falten flores cuando esté dentro' el cajón. ...............

Don’t get scared, don’t run away, I haven’t come to avenge myself; for tomorrow, as is only right, I’m going away, never to return... I’ve come to say goodbye,  to give myself the pleasure of seeing you face to face; and to gaze into your eyes* silently, for a long time, the way used to look into mine. I’ve come so that together we might remember the past like two good friends who haven’t seen each other in a while. I recall that time when I was an honest man and my mother’s affection was a poncho draped over my good and noble soul to shield me from the coldness of contempt. One night the Grim Reaper* dressed my soul in pain: God called my dear mother to His side; and in my dreams it seemed that from heaven the poor woman was telling me that you were good, that she would always trust you. But you cheated on me and, thirsty for vengeance,  my knife, in a bad moment, plunged itself into a heart,*  and later, now calm, my one hope shattered, some stubborn tears I dried in a tavern. They locked me up for many years in that filthy cage,*  and one afternoon they let me go...  for good or for ill. I wandered the streets aimlessly;*  How many times I stood on line  just to eat a plate of soup!  Daybreak found me asleep on a doorstep. Now I’ve got nothing left, no place to stay, I’m so poor; I only came to see you, to forgive you. I swear, I’m pleased that you've got some happiness left. I’ll go to work in the fields to get together a few coins*  so I won’t be short of flowers when I’m in my coffin.

* Gayola: Cage, jail or slammer.

* gaze into your eyes: en tus ojos campanearme. The verb campanear imeans to keep watch over, and is often used to describe a thief's covert observations prior to burglarizing a property, as in the underworld slang, "casing the joint."

* Grim Reaper: la huesuda, "The Bony One." Death is personified as a skeleton.

* plunged itself into a heart: lo envainé en un corazón, literally, "sheathed itself in a heart." 

* in that filthy cage: the word gayola means cage or, colloquially, "jail" or "slammer."

* I wandered the streets aimlessly: fui vagando por las calles y rodé como una bola, literally, "I went wandering in the streets and I rolled (went here and there) like a ball." 

* coins: cobres, literally, "coppers." 

Comments

[Lucas TangoDJ]

I have always found this a peculiar song. Any idea what kind of betrayal this ''friend'' may have committed? How should we interpret ''y en tus ojos campanearme,

silencioso, largamente,
 como me miraba ayer.'' Into which heart was the knife plunged? Why does the protagonist forgive this friend in the end and what for? And I wonder if you have any general thoughts about the overall meaning?

It is said that

pa' que no me falten flores

cuando esté dentro' el cajón.

were the last words Julio Sosa ever sung before he died in a car accident. I love his interpretation, I find the Rodriguez version generic.

[Lucas TangoDJ]

I have always found this a peculiar song. Any idea what kind of betrayal this ''friend'' may have committed? How should we interpret ''y en tus ojos campanearme,

silencioso, largamente,
 como me miraba ayer.'' Into which heart was the knife plunged? Why does the protagonist forgive this friend in the end and what for? And I wonder if you have any general thoughts about the overall meaning?

It is said that

pa' que no me falten flores

cuando esté dentro' el cajón.

were the last words Julio Sosa ever sung before he died in a car accident. I love his interpretation, I find the Rodriguez version generic.

[Tango Decoder]

Hi, Lucas! Thanks for your thoughtful comment.

My understanding is that the narrator is addressing a person (presumably a woman) who was once his lover. That's the only way I can understand the line you cite: "...y en tus ojos campanearme...como me miraba ayer..." (I want to keep watch on your eyes...the way you used to look at me in the past.")

This woman betrayed him in love ("me jugaste sucio"), and he took revenge--presumably by "sheathing his knife" in the heart of the guy she cheated with. That's why he has to reassure her right away, "Don't get scared, I haven't come to revenge myself (on you)": he has already killed her lover out of jealousy, was convicted of murder and incarcerated for many years. Now that he's out of jail, she might well assume that he's come to punish her, too. But he hasn't. He just wants to see her one more time before he goes away forever. He wants to share the memory of better times. Or so he says. But the woman, or we, the listener, doesn't know whether he's sincere or not. That's my interpretation!

[Eral]

Just wanted to make a short comment on the translation of the verse "...y en tus ojos campanearme...como me miraba ayer...". The verbs are in both cases in first person reflexive, so a more correct translation would be along the lines of "... I want to watch myself in your eyes... the way I used to see myself once...".

I think it changes the meaning of the verse too, because he is looking for his lost pride or honour rather than the woman's redemption or love.

Thank you for the translation. This is a great song.