Subtitled Tango Video #56: TODO TERMINÓ ("It's all over now") D'Agostino/Vargas 1942

"I alone know what I suffered by forgetting you, by tearing you out of my heart. And now that I’m wise to your tricks, I want nothing to do with you!"

I love this little-heard D'Agostino song that was recommended to us by Mariola Golińczak, so I decided to decode the lyrics by Mario Soto. Nothing mysterious, really, just a straight translation. What impresses me is the forthrightness of the narrator. Borges once said that tango lyrics are "the effeminate whinging of jilted pimps," and with a lot of songs that's just how it seems. Here, the narrator's pitiless riposte has a more forceful, direct quality that demands respect. Take that, Borges!

TodoTango identifies Mario Soto (20 August 1912 - 20 April 1995) as a lyricist, commentator, actor and scriptwriter. He seems to have struggled as an actor and scriptwriter, but he distinguished himself as a lyricist with the milonga COMPADREANDO and the tangos EL YACARÉ, ME LLAMAN TANGO, and the present example, TODO TERMINÓ.

Soto had two other roles that pique my curiosity. One was as the business manager and announcer for the orchestra of Angel D'Agostino: imagine all the curious minutiae of tango lore that must have been stored in his brain! The other is as the glosa artist for D'Agostino, Alfredo Attadia (during Angel Vargas's brief solo bid in 1943), Pedro Laurenz, Osvaldo Pugliese, and possibly others. The glosa artist was a guy who would introduce the songs during live or radio appearances, often reciting a brief poetic verse of his own composition intended to complement the lyrics of the song. The glosa is to my mind part of the hidden history of tango. It was quite common during the Golden Age—and anyone who lived through the era would have been familiar with the custom—though only a few of the verses survive on recording.

The jazzy ad shown above was prepared by the Santa Cruz publicity agency for the D'Agostino orchestra's appearances at Club Atlético Estudiantes during Carnavál. It appeared in the "El Mundo" newspaper's Dance Guide on Saturday, 13 March 1943, and several other times during that year's celebrations. 

TODO TERMINÓ (It's all over now)
Tango, 1942
Music: Alfredo Attadia and Ismael Spitalnik
Lyrics: Mario Soto
English-language version by Michael Krugman for Tango Decoder

Hoy que la vida te venció, has vuelto por saber si puedes refugiarte en mi querer. No te ha traído a mi rincón sino la humillación del hombre que a su lado te arrastró. En el perdón que has implorado esté el despecho reflejado. Ya ves, tu infamia me enseñó a ser tu propio juez. Por eso, sin piedad te condené. Antes hubiera perdonado ¡todo!... ¡todo! Pero ya es tarde en tu pecado, quedó deshecha mi fe. Yo sólo sé lo que sufrí por olvidarte, por arrancarte del corazón. Y hoy me rebelo a tus engaños, nada quiero de vos. Ya ni tu llanto me conmueve, porque también llorando mientes. Será mejor para los dos que olvides,       como yo, es todo lo que puedo hacer por vos.

Now that life has defeated you, you have come back to see if you can take refuge in my love. The only thing that could have brought you to my corner is your humiliation by the man who made you grovel at his feet. The pardon you’ve begged for evokes only spite in me. So you see, your disgrace taught me to be the judge of you. Therefore, without pity I condemned you. Back then I might have forgiven everything!...      everything! But now your repentance comes too late, my faith remains undone. I alone know what I suffered by forgetting you, by tearing you out of my heart. And now that I’m wise to your tricks, I want nothing to do with you. Not even your tears move me to pity, because by weeping you’re lying, too. It will be better for us both if you forget, like me, that’s the best I can do for you.