"Just because four bucks have rained on you, God knows how, you're deluding yourself. You fancy yourself an M.P., though you’re nothing but a fool in a checkered suit.... What's up, what's up with these big-shot pretensions?"
Qué hacés, qué hacés! (What's up, what's up?)* Tango, 1933 Music: José Di Clemente Words: Jesús Fernández Blanco
[Illus.: "See you tomorrow, Novarro!" Ramón Novarro (1899-1968), the quintessential "Latin lover."]
¡Qué hacés, qué hacés, que de repente te has parao, y no querés saber de amigos del pasao! Será tal vez que tu patrón se descuidó, o puede ser que alguna herencia te tocó... ¡Qué hacés, qué hacés! que de la barra disparás y te creés el "nene lindo de mamá"... ¡Qué plato, che, cuando te gritan en el barrio: Adiós, Novarro, Qué hacés, qué hacés!
Por cuatro mangos que han llovido, Dios sabe cómo, te has engrupido... Pensás que sos un diputao, y sólo sos un gil a cuadros empilchao... Por esos locos berretines también cambiaste de apellidos... ¡Ya no sos Pérez Gilines! ¡Sos Nito Anchorena Unzué! ¡Qué hacés, qué hacés con ese dique de bacán!
Te la has piyao que hasta las uñas te pintás... Si todos, che, te vimos siempre laburar bien engrasao, vendiendo cachos de fainá... ¡Qué hacés, qué hacés! que en vez de chao decís "gut nai", y "madmossells" a las pebetas vos llamás... ¡Qué plato, che, cuando te dice alguna chica: Adiós, Mojica, ¡Qué hacés, qué hacés!
What's up, what's up? that suddenly you're done, and you don’t want to know about your old friends? Maybe your boss wasn't watching, or it could be that some inheritance fell into your lap... What's up, what's up? that you distance yourself from the old gang and you believe you're “Mama’s sweet darling”... What a joke, eh, when they greet you in the barrio: "See you tomorrow, Novarro,"* What's up, what's up?
Just because four bucks have rained on you, God knows how, you're deluding yourself... You fancy yourself an M.P.,* though you’re nothing but a fool in a checkered suit... On account of these crazy whims you also changed your name... You’re no longer Peréz Gilines! You’re Nito Anchorena Unzué! What's up, what's up with these big-shot pretensions?*
You’ve got it so bad you even paint your fingernails... But all of us, eh, we’ve seen you working, all greasy, selling slices of pizza...* What's up, what's up? that instead of chao you say “good night,” and you call the girls “mademoiselle”... What a laugh, eh, when some girl says to you: “Hey, Mojíca,”* What's up, what's up?
* Qué hacés, qué hacés: Literally, "What are you doing?" or more colloquially, "What's up?"
* Novarro: Ramón Novarro (1899-1968) Mexican leading man in silent films, the quintessential “Latin lover.”
* M.P.: diputao/diputado, literally, "deputy," i.e., any sort of elected or appointed official: congressman, assemblyman, M.P., etc.
* Nito Anchorena Unzué: A pretentious assumed name. The Anchorenas and the Unzués had been prominent families in Argentine society since the eighteenth century. Tita Morello renders the line as Decís ser un noble ingles, "You claim to be an English nobleman."
* big-shot pretension: dique de bacán. The phrase darse dique means to put on airs, to brag.
* pizza: Fainá, a savory flatbread made of chickpea flour, common to Argentina and Uruguay. Today it is often sold in pizzerias, and served a caballo ("on horseback"), that is, atop a slice of pizza. [TD's note: Beer accompaniment mandatory!]
* Mojíca: Fray José de Guadalupe Mojica (1896-1974) was a wildly popular tenor and film actor successful in the American film industry before entering religious life.
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"Just because four bucks have rained on you, God knows how, you're deluding yourself. You fancy yourself an M.P., though you’re nothing but a fool in a checkered suit.... What's up, what's up with these big-shot pretensions?"
* Qué hacés, qué hacés: Literally, "What are you doing?" or more colloquially, "What's up?"
Comments