VOLVAMOS A EMPEZAR: Let's start over again...

"With the shadows of prison I cleansed my sins, if prison can be said to cleanse anything. Those stone-faced judges never could understand that sometimes life forces you to kill."

VOLVAMOS A EMPEZAR
(Let's start over again)
Tango, 1953
Música: Daniel Alvarez 

Letra: Eduardo Maradei

Tango Decoder's version of VOLVAMOS A EMPEZAR is dedicated to Astrid S., a gracious lady and a marvelous dancer.

Oscar Larrocca w/ Orquesta Alfredo De Angelis

Now I’m at your side once again,
Happy like never before, eager for home.
The kids already know what's happened,
and now they can show they have a father.

Look at the gifts I’ve bought for all of you:
Toys, clothes, some liquor, too,
and a wedding veil more beautiful than the sky,
since I know that our darling daughter already has sweetheart.

Look....our kids as they were yesterday!
Look...how they hug me once again!
Who knows how many times
They needed my affection
And in their deprivation
They called me with their sobbing?

Today I’m lucky to have a home
and I know that you suffered more than I did.
Come, set the table and hide that big tear.
Don’t cry, let’s start over again.

With the shadows of prison I cleansed my sins,
If prison can be said to cleanse anything.
Those stone-faced judges never could understand
That sometimes life forces you to kill.

Look....our kids as they were yesterday!
Look...how they embrace me once again !
Who knows how many times
They needed my affection
And in their deprivation
They called me with their sobbing...

Today I’m lucky to have a home
and I know that you suffered more than I did.
Come, set the table and hide your tears
Don’t cry, let’s start over again!

Hoy vuelvo por tí otra vez a tu lado
feliz como nunca, con ansias de hogar
los chicos ya saben que es lo que ha pasado
y ahora hay un padre que pueden mostrar.

Mirá que regalos compré para todos:
juguetes y ropas, también un licor
y un velo de novia más lindo que el cielo
pues sé que la nena ya tiene un amor.

Mirá...
nuestros cachorros como ayer
mirá...
como me abrazan otra vez
quién sabe cuantas veces
precisaron mi calor
y en esta desnudez
me habrán llamado con su llanto.

Hoy tengo la dicha de mi hogar
y sé que vos sufriste más que yo.
Vení, poné la mesa y escondé ese lagrimón,
no llores, volvamos a empezar.

Con sombras de carcel lavé mi pecado
si acaso la cárcel lo puede lavar
los jueces de mármol nunca comprendieron
que a veces la vida te obliga a matar.

Mirá...
nuestros cachorros como ayer
mirá...
como me abrazan otra vez
quién sabe cuantas veces
precisaron mi calor
y en esta desnudez
me habrán llamado con su llanto.
Hoy tengo la dicha de mi hogar
y sé que vos sufriste más que yo.
Vení, poné la mesa y escondé ese lagrimón,
no llores, volvamos a empezar.

Comments

[Lucia Figueroa]

I used not to like this tango, because I thought he had cheated/abandoned his wife and when he returned she was happy to see him again anyways (so machist)... but then, after reading the lyrics, I found that he had been in prison, and for killing someone!

So, sometimes it's difficult to understand the meaning even if you are native spanish speaker just like me, and in the case of this lyric, I found that the writer did a good job on transmitting the shame of telling someone else you have been in prison, he didn't include it on the chorus, and when he mentions it he tries to excuse himself.