SOY MUCHACHO DE LA GUARDIA: Not afraid of the cobblestones!

Thus you were born, outsider tango,
dealing cards, bleeding in a brawl, quarreling, boasting in some tavern. And now that you’re king of the hill, seeing as you’ve made a comeback—by God, may I drop dead on the spot—I'm dancing you night and day.

Lyricist Héctor Marcó (1906-1987) was a tango musician known principally as a composer. He was also an actor in theater and radio-theater. He was the preferred lyricist of Carlos Di Sarli and his tangos were also performed by Edmundo Rivero, Ángel Vargas, Charlo, Ricardo Tanturi, Enrique Rodriguez, Miguel Caló and Pedro Laurenz. Other titles include Bien Frappé, En un beso la vida, La capilla blanca, Porteño y bailarín and Nido gaucho.

Soy muchacho de la guardia*
(I belong to the old guard)
Music: Augustín Irusta
Lyrics: Héctor Marcó
First recorded: 1942

Youtube:
Aníbal Troilo y su orquesta típica with Francisco Fiorentino (with Tango Decoder's English-language subtitles)

Soy muchacho de la guardia!  No me asusta el empedrao...  Con mi estampa y mi cartel Y el chambergo requintao,  Me hago ovillo y carretel Cuando piso el encerao.  Soy muchacho de la guardia!  Disculpen si me he bandeao. Con su permiso señores Que va a pasar la milonga, Y el bandoneón ya rezonga Dentrándose al corazón. Así naciste, tallando,  Tango dulzón y orillero, Sangrando en un entrevero Peleando, guapeando en algún bodegón.  Y hoy que sos rey donde quieras Al verte otra vez despierto, Por Dios que me caiga muerto te bailo de sol a sol. Soy muchacho de la guardia!  Tango dame tu compás, Que hasta en el palacio 'e Dios Hoy te baila “El Cachafaz”. Cómo no he de alzarte yo Si la sangre me quemás, Soy muchacho de la guardia Soná, que no aguanto más.

I belong to the old guard!*  I'm not afraid to dance on cobblestones...*  With my style and my reputation, and my slouch hat cocked to one side,* I spin like a top* when I step on a polished floor. I belong to the old guard! Forgive me if I've stepped out of line.* With your permission, gentlemen, the milonga is about to begin, and already the bandoneón is growling,*  going straight to the heart.  Thus you were born, outsider tango,* dealing cards, bleeding in a brawl,* quarreling, boasting in some tavern.*  And now that you’re king of the hill,*  seeing as you’ve made a comeback,  —by God, may I drop dead on the spot—  I'm dancing you night and day. I belong to the old guard! Tango, give me your beat, [which even now "el Cachafaz”* is dancing in the palace of God . How could I not praise you, since you set my soul on fire? I belong to the old guard! Ring out! I can’t wait any longer.]

NOTES:

* old guard: The literal meaning of the title is "I am a boy who belongs to the guard." The narrator, speaking from the vantage point of the 1940s, declares his allegiance to the "old guard" of tango, and more specifically to the values of tango's "Guardia Vieja" period prior to 1920.

* Not afraid to dance on cobblestones: By the time the song appeared in 1942, tango was at the height of its popularity and had thoroughly penetrated to the Argentine middle and upper classes. What was once the funky, edgy dance of the streets was now danced indoors, on the polished wooden floors of salons, cabarets and ballrooms. The narrator identifies with the older "guardia vieja" manner of dancing on cobblestone-paved streets (see illustration above) or courtyards.

* slouch hat: chambergo, literally a homburg. De riguer headgear for the tanguero of the old guard. See illustration. (Revised 2015-18-01)

* With my good looks and my reputation: The original sheet music gives this line as con mi pinta a lo Gardel ("with my elegance like that of Gardel"). In the recorded versions of Troilo and Demare, both Fiorentino and Arrieta, respectively, sing con mi estampa and mi cartel ("with my good looks/elegance and my reputation"). 

* spin like a top: Me hago ovillo y carretel, literally, "I make myself a ball and reel." An ovillo is a ball of yarn or thread. Hacerse ovillo means literally "to roll up in a ball," or, idiomatically, "to cringe," which expresses a certain aversion to the polished floors (and the polite manners) of the salon-tango. A carretel is literally a bobbin or reel, but carretel is also a Lunfardism meaning "a stupid person." According to that interpetation, the narrator may be hinting that he acts "stupid," that is, he imitates the middle-class dancers of the salón. An alternate reading is that the polished floors of the salon are so smooth (as compared to rough cobblestones of old) that the narrator rolls like a ball and/or spins like a top; in other words, he dances exceptionally well.

     A related expression is dar mucho hilo que torcer, literally, "to give/make a lot of thread to wind up," meaning "to give or cause a lot of trouble." (The image is of one who tranforms an orderly situation into a disorderly one.) Thus the narrator's likening himself to a ball of thread and a bobbin could mean that he has a lot of thread to give, an indirect suggestion that he is expecting trouble—or plans to make some—at the high-class tango salon.

     Thanks to "El Taura Más Mentao" (Bariloche), to Dr. Marta Santos (Buenos Aires), and Mr. Horacio Chiesa (Quilmes) for helping me decode this multivalent poetic image.)

* out of line: me ha bandeao. The verb bandear/bandearse (from banda, the gunwales of a boat) can mean "to be out of line, to take or change sides, to know how to manage in life, to betray oneself, to open a wound with a blade, or simply to open." Here, the narrator apologizes (somewhat disingenuously, it seems) to a group of "gentlemen" for his old-guard, working-class allegiances and his ambivalence about present-day tango. He is aware that, from their perspective, his comments may be "out of line." (Thanks again, El Taura.)

* growling: The verb rezongar is often used to describe the sound of a bandoneón. It means to grumble, growl, or murmur. In this context, growl seems the best choice.

* dealing the cards: tallando. The verb tallar has several meanings, including "to deal (cards)"; to cut, sculpt, or engrave. In the Southern Cone (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay) it can mean "to gossip," "to whisper sweet nothings," or simply to converse. In this context, dealing cards is the most likely interpretation; it is thematically similar to the actions mentioned in the following lines (bleeding, fighting, boasting). (Second revision 2015-24-01)

* outsider tango: The tango orillero (from orilla, edge) was a style of tango dance developed in the orillas, or arrabal, the lower-class districts at the outskirts of the city. It was characterized by expansive figures, sharp cortes (freezes), and lurid quebradas (dips) as distinct from the later, more refined, polite tango of the middle and upper classes at the center of the city. 

* fighting...tavern: Peleando, guapeando en algún bodegón. The line is phrased somewhat differently in the recorded versions; the meaning is the same.

* you're king of the hill: sos rey donde quiera, literally, "king wherever you like."

* "El Cachafaz": Ovidio José Bianquet (1885-1938) was to become the greatest tango dancer of his time, and an icon of dancing skill and creativity for subsequent generations of tangueros. El Cachafaz and his partner Carmencita Calderón are seen briefly in the 1933 film Tango. He is mentioned in the lyrics of many tango songs, including Adiós Arrabal.

 

 

Comments

[Michael Lavocah]

The word pinta was considered lunfardo (although today it's found in every Spanish dictionary). This appears to be a case of self-censorship, as the ban on lunfardo (on radio) did not come into place until 1943 and the recordings you mention are from 1942.