TRES ESQUINAS: Tango in its own words

"There's nothing more beautiful or convivial than that gossipy slum of mine, with the back-biting of the womenfolk
 and the flirtatious catcalls of the local Casanova."

Tres Esquinas (Three Corners) was initially composed by Angel D'Agostino in 1920 under the title Pobre piba to accompany the play Armonenville performed by the Arata-Simari-Franco company at the Teatro Nacional of Buenos Aires. In 1940, Enrique Cadícamo proposed the addition of words referring to to the corner of Oca and Montes streets in the barrio of Barracas, where the café "Tres Esquinas" (later called "Cabo Fels") was located. The tango was renamed Tres esquinas and the arrangement was reworked extensively in collaboration with bandoneonist Alfredo Attadia.

[Present-day view of the corner of Oca and Montes with the characteristic ochava (rounded corner and angled shopfront) mentioned in the lyrics.]

There are several excellent English-language versions of the lyrics to Tres Esquinas, most notably by Derrick Del Pilar of poesíadegotan and Rick McGarrey of tangoandchaos, and of course I had those versions and their accompanying texts in mind when I began to explore the lyrics for myself. Would I have anything new to contribute to our understanding of Cadícamo's words? If not, I figured, creating my own version of Tres esquinas would be a learning experience for me, and there'd be no need to publish the results here. I mean, really, we don't have anything better in the tango translation arena than those two masters. As I got into the text, however, I found a few minor points about which I had slightly different interpretations than either of my precursors. And then there was the final stanza, unsung in the D'Agostino/Vargas recording, which neither of them had addressed. In my opinion, it's a gem, and really adds something to the mood and meaning of the lyric. My sense of it is significantly different from any of the existing versions. I hope the reader will find it worthy of their time and attention.

Tres esquinas (Three Corners)
Tango, 1940
Music: Angel D'Agostino
Words: Enrique Cadícamo / Alfredo Attadio

YouTube:
•Orquesta Angel D'Agostino with Angel Vargas (with original filmed performance and later cameos by D'Agostino and Cadícamo)
• Ariel Ardit y Orquesta Típica

Yo soy del barrio de Tres Esquinas, viejo baluarte de un arrabal donde florecen como glicinas las lindas pibas de delantal, donde en la noche tibia y serena su antiguo aroma vuelca el malvón y bajo el cielo de luna llena duermen las chatas del corralón. Soy de ese barrio de humilde rango, yo soy el tango sentimental. Soy de ese barrio que toma mate bajo la sombra que da el parral. En sus ochavas compadrié de mozo tiré la daga por un loco amor quemé en los ojos de una maleva la ardiente ceba de mi pasión. Donde en la noche tibia y serena su antiguo aroma vuelca el malvón y bajo el cielo de luna llena duermen las chatas del corralón. [Nada hay más lindo ni más compadre que mi suburbio murmurador, con los chimentos de las comadres y los piropos del Picaflor. Vieja barriada que fue estandarte de mis arrojos de juventud Yo soy del barrio que vive aparte en este siglo de Neo-Lux.]

I’m from the barrio of Three Corners That old stronghold of an arrabal Where pretty schoolgirls in pinafores Bloom like wisteria on the vine. Where in the peaceful, balmy night The geranium spills its ancient perfume And the timber-yard wagons* Sleep under the full-moon sky. I am from that humble barrio, I am the sentimental tango. I’m from that barrio that drinks maté In the shade of the grape arbor. As a kid I strutted on its rounded corners,* Drew my dagger for crazy love, Stoked in the eyes of a wayward girl the blazing fire of my passion.* Where on the quiet, balmy nights Geranium spills its ancient aroma And the timber-yard wagons Sleep under the full-moon sky. [There's nothing more beautiful or more friendly than that gossipy slum of mine with the back-biting of the womenfolk and the flirtatious catcalls* of the local Casanova. Run-down neighborhood that was the symbol of my reckless youth, I am from the barrio that lives on, apart from this neon-lit age.]*

* timberyard wagons: las chatas del corallón. The principal industries of the arrabal were timber and ironwork. A chata is a horse-drawn, flat-bed wagon that transported raw timber from the railheads to the timberyard and delivered finished lumber to commercial customers. A corallón is a timberyard.

* rounded corners: ochavas. The ochava is arguably the most distinctive feature of Buenos Aires architecture. The basic idea is simple: the hard-edged, 90-degree corner of the buildings are lopped off (at street level, and sometimes on the upper floors as well) to create a softer, angled corner with a broad face, often a shop front, that faces the intersection diagonally; the curb is rounded to reflect the altered architectural form. (The result is an intersection with eight corners instead of four, hence the name ochava, from ocho, eight.)

At a formal level, the ochava presents a fascinating architectural puzzle that admits of an infinitude of solutions. At a social level, it creates a distinctive urban ambiance; it modulates the rhythm of life. Walking in Buenos Aires, one almost never simply turns a corner. Rather, one rounds a corner in a series graduated steps, like an elegantly measured molinete rather than a brusque cambio de frente; the angled front of the building serves as a proscenium for the drama of the city's street life.

* Stoked the blazing fire...backstreet girl: 
quemé en los ojos de una maleva, la ardiente ceba de mi pasión. Literally, "I burned in the eyes of a maleva (literally a female juvenile delinquent or offender) the ardent stoking (ceba) of my passion." I've taken a few liberties here to make Cadícamo's poetic image scan in English.

* flirtatious catcalls: piropos.

* this neon-lit age: este siglo Neo-Lux. Neo-Lux was a brand of neon lighting fixture used in the upscale districts of the city; it was taken as a mark of modernity and progress in contrast to the gas-lit faroles of the arrabal. (Gobello, J. Tangos, letras y letristas 6. Diccionario del lenguaje del tango. Buenos Aires, Plus Ultra, 1996. Cited in Sabugo, Mario, "Las cosas que ahora se ven: Imaginario de los artefactos y la indumentaria en el tango,"Arquitextos, April 2014.)