Tango Time Machine — Tango Decoder

Aghast, Tango In Paris! (1911)

This absurdly venomous article from 1911 describes the Argentine backlash against the Parisian epidemic of Tango Fever.

[Photo: Maurice Mouvet and Florence Walton, Paris 1911.]

"In [Paris,] the city of all things new, the same thing happened to our poor tango that happened to our poor gaucho: Progress killed it," opines the Argentine newspaper Santa Fe in October of 1911. It continues:

"The chanteuses of the Moulin Rouge have introduced such a variety of quebradas into their repertoire that the indignant Argentine residents of Paris are denying their nationality, and what's worse, they register the following complaints:

"We protest in the name of Argentine culture the criollo label that has been hung upon the tango, a thing originally African and unworthy of belonging in any decent salón, like the dance of the Apaches and the "cakewalk," which belong to the same category.

"In our eagerness to have characteristically Argentine things, we must not fall into the error of attributing an indigenous identity to a dance that is a despicable amalgam and hybrid of the candombe of the slaves of the colonial period and the zamba of Africa.

"[The tango] lacks elegance and grace and its character of brutal sensuality springs into view, stupidly silent. The quebradas and the cortes that disgracefully accentuate the rudimentary rhythm of the tango and emphasize its inferiority are announcing their affiliation and identifying their origin: the muddy arrabal, that clandestine center of debauchery, the underworld, and the social outcasts."

"If, after a vigorous chewing out like that," the anonymous author concludes, "the tango doesn't fall to the ground in a quebrada [LOL. Ed.], it is because the contact with the Apaches has abased it completely and it has now forgotten about the conventillos and the girls of the starched petticoats that are impossible to mistake for those of the chapeau á la dernier cris."

From the newspaper SANTA FE, Santa Fe, Argentina, Sunday, 8 October 1911
Transcribed and translated by Tango Decoder, emphases ours.

Original text in castellano:

Lo ha pasado a nuestro pobre tango en la ciudad de todas las novedades lo que le ha pasado a nuestro pobre gaucho: el progreso mató.

Son tantas y tan variadas las quebradas que las chanteuses del <Moulin Rouge> le han introducido  en su indumentaria que indignados los argentinos residente en Paris se han negado a conocerle con nacionalidad y no sería eso lo peor, sino se le apuntaran con defectos como este:

“Protestamos en nombre de la cultura argentina del calificativo (qualification) de criollo que se ha colgado al tango, pieza originariamente africana é indigna de figurar en cualquier salón decente, como el baile de los apaaches y el <cakewalk>, a cuya categoria pertenece.”

“En nuestro afán de tener cosas propias características, no debemos incurrir en el error de atribuir fisionomia auctótona (indigenous) a una danza que es una amalgama canallesca (despicable) é híbrida del candombe de los esclavos del coloniaje (colonial period) y de las zambas (mixed race, also an Argentine dance) de Africa.”

“Carece de elegancia de gracia y salta á la vista su carácter brutalmente sensual es estúpidamente silencioso. Las quebradas y los cortes que acentúan desgraciadamente el ritmo rudimentario del tango y recalan su inferioridad, están estableciendo su filiación y denotando su procedencia: el arrabal turbio, el centro clandestino de libertinaje, bajos fondos y las capas extrasociales.”

Si después de esta samarriada de vigilante tipo <caiés no más> el tango no se cae al suelo de una quebrada es porque el contacto con los <appaches> lo ha degradado del todo, y se ha olvidado ya hasta de los conventillos, y de las meregildas de anaguas almidonadas inconfundibles con las del <chapeau á la dernier cris.>

Those Darned Victrolas!!....

SANTA FE, CITY OF MILONGAS
Transcribed from EL ORDEN newspaper, Santa Fe, Argentina, 16 February 1930

(Translated by Tango Decoder, italics ours)

Here’s the feeling expressed by the residents of the neighborhood of Rivadavia and San Luis streets between Gobernador Veras and La Primera Junta:

Day and night from the “cafés” that exist in this area, the grumbling hum of the Victrola or similar apparatus that assaults the ears of so many passersby who take the notion to walk in the vicinity.

But the one who suffers most from the effects of this mechanical music-mania (melomanía mecánica) is the resident of the neighborhood who has to tolerate by day, by night, and into the wee hours of the morning this incessant scraping of the needle on the record that is truly infuriating in its continuity.

The rudeness of the proprietors of these cafes, who have found in the Victrola a sure way to drum up business, especially when it is operated by delicate white hands*, has reached a height, provoking, as is natural, more than one just and legitimate protest.

As is natural, the residents of the neighborhood, the majority of them servants and laborers who have to wake up early to get to their jobs, are not happy with this intermittent grumbling (gruñido) that detracts hours from their sleep. That is the reason for the protest that, with our help, they lodged with the authorities.  

For our part, in echoing of this legitimate claim of the barrio’s residents, we call the attention of the authorities, especially the Municipal Inspector, so that they may carry out the dictates of the ordinance relative to public spectacles, with respect to morality, hours of operation, and the like.

The tranquility and order of the city thus requires, despite the interests of this or that merchant, a clear decree by the administration.

NOTES:

* delicate, white hands: Probably a reference to the Victrolera, a young, often pretty girl hired to change the records and crank the handle of a Victrola in order to provide a steady stream of music for the clients of a bar, restaurant, or other establishment. Alberto Castillo interacts with a Victrolera named Eva in the photo, and in the video clip below:

Original article as transcribed:

Así en este sentido se expresan los vecinos del barrio comprendido por las calles Rivadavia y San Luis, entre las Gobernador Veras y 1a. Junta.

Día y noche, desde los “cafés” existentes en ese radio, el zumbido gruñon y agrío de las victrolas o aparatos similares, hiere el oído de cuanto transeunte tiene la ocurrencia de pasar por esas inmediaciones.

Pero el que más sufre los efectos de esta melomanía mecánica, es el vecindario que debe soportar de día, a la tarde, y hasta las altas horas de la noche, ese incesante rasguño de la púa sobre el disco en una continuidad verdaderamente desesperante y...

El descómedimiento de los propietarios de eso “cafés,” que han visto en la victrola un medio decisivo para interesa a la clientela, máxime cuando el dichoso aparato está manejado por manos blancas y delicadas, ha llegado ya al colmo provocando como es natural más de una protesta justa y legítima.

Los vecinos de dicho barrio, en su mayoría empleados y obreros, que deben necesariamente levantarse temprano para concurrir a sus tareas, no les hace gracia  como es natural, ese intermitente gruñido que les resta algunas hora de sueño, y de ahi el motivo de la protesta  que por nuestro intermedio formulan a las autoridades municipales.

Por nuestra parte, al hacernos eco de este legítimo reclamo de los vecinos del expresado barrio, llamamos la atención a dichas autoridades, en especial a las de la Inspección Municipal, a fin de que se hagan cumplir las disposiciones contenidas en la ordenanza relativa a los expactáculos públicos, en lo que respecta a moralidad, duración y clase de los mismos.

La tranquilidad y el orden de la ciudad así lo requiere, pese a los intereses de cierto comerciantes que de todo tienen menos de tales, así esgriman la patente acordada por la administración pública.

Subtitled Tangos #19 to 21: Three For Enrique Cadicamo's anniversary

In honor of the 115th anniversary of the birth of great tango poet, lyricist, and composer ENRIQUE CADÍCAMO, Tango Decoder offers three new, subtitled videos in Spanish and English. They are:

 

• COMPADRÓN (Loudmouth)

• MUÑECA BRAVA (Femme Fatale)

• NO VENDRÁ (She's not coming)

PLUS four previously released, subtitled Cadícamo tangos:

• SI LA LLEGARAN A VER
• AVE DE PASO
• A QUIÉN LE PUEDE IMPORTAR
• PA’ MI ES IGUAL

The three new videos are embedded below. All seven are accessible via our Enrique Cadícamo playlist on YouTube.

 

COMPADRÓN:

 

 

MUÑECA BAVA:

 

NO VENDRÁ:

Subtitled Tangos #19 to 21: Three For Enrique Cadícamo's anniversary

In honor of the 115th anniversary of the birth of great tango poet, lyricist, and composer ENRIQUE CADÍCAMO, Tango Decoder offers three new, subtitled videos in Spanish and English. They are:

 

• COMPADRÓN (Loudmouth)

• MUÑECA BRAVA (Femme Fatale)

• NO VENDRÁ (She's not coming)

PLUS four previously released, subtitled Cadícamo tangos:

• SI LA LLEGARAN A VER
• AVE DE PASO
• A QUIÉN LE PUEDE IMPORTAR
• PA’ MI ES IGUAL

The three new videos are embedded below. All seven are accessible via our Enrique Cadícamo playlist on YouTube.

 

COMPADRÓN:

 

 

MUÑECA BAVA:

 

NO VENDRÁ:

1940s Tango Dance Guide: A quiz from Santa Cruz

From our 1940s Tango Dance Guide series:

In a recent post we featured some beautifully hand-drawn ads from the Santa Fe publicity agency from 1943. By early 1944, the scene had changed, and for reasons unknown to me, the El Mundo newspaper's dance guide no longer accepted graphical ads of that kind. All ads were set in standard, reusable type. Photographs of the artists could still be included, although that was about to change, too.

[Click on the photo for high-res view.]

But the folks at the Santa Fe agency were artists, and an artist has to do whatever he or she does in an artistic way. To that end, here's an ad for an appearance by one of the well-known orchestras, dated 28 October 1944. The bandleader, his two singers, and the glosa artist (the glosa was a spoken introduction at the beginning of each song) are not named, but only seen in photographs. Kind of cool, isn't it?

I'm sure all tango aficionados will recognize the bandleader and perhaps the two singers as well, but how many of you can name the glosa artist right off the bat? I couldn't. I had to research it. If you know all four names, I invite you to leave a Comment below. (No cheating!)

Tango Advertising: Malerba's Debut at Ocean Dancing (1944)

A couple of readers asked me about the prominent ad for Ricardo Malerba and his singer Orlando Medina that was visible in the newspaper spread in my last posting. You're right, it's unique and ambitious, though it's not necessarily successful as a design, in my opinion. But its certainly worth a look. Scroll down and have a look. You can click image for a higher-res view.

[The color pic to the right is mine, shot at Obelisco Tango.]

[El Mundo, 16 May 1944]

Ocean Dancing was a slightly seedy club on Leandro N. Alem street in the El Bajo district of BsAs, down by the docks. A respectable woman would not go there without a dedicated escort. Other clubs in the area included Montmartre and California Sky (with a doorman dressed as a cowboy). Despite its low reputation, a lot of the popular orchestras played Ocean Dancing, including Malerba, Pedro Laurenz, Ciricao Ortiz, Miguel Caló, and Edgardo Donato. 

Here's the scene on the street in front of Ocean Dancing. I wish we could see some of those leaflets lying in the street!:

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Francisco Fiorentino and Astor Piazzola make a splash....

He's here now! With his friends and supporters, the voice of Francisco Fiorentino and his full orchestra directed by Astor Piazzola. Starting today will deliver his greatest hits to all the barrios of Buenos Aires. (Vicmar Publicity, 2 September 1944)

Still packing them in...

Osvaldo Donato with singer Horacio Lagos, 17 March 1944, still packing them in, ten months after their departure from brother Edgardo's band. (Or so this ad placed by the Vicmar publicity agency would like us to know...)

English-language text follows:

TO THE PUBLIC
that night after night totally fills the
THE BAR "EL NACIONAL"

Our most profound appreciation for your support, your applause and the valuable encouragement it shows for our modest labors and we invite you to listen to us every day from 8:30 to 1:30.

OSVALDO DONATO
His full orchestra and the singer
HORACIO LAGOS

Carnaval 1943: The Di Sarli Strategy

20 March, 1943. Interesting advertising strategy for Carlos Di Sarli and the sponsor of his Carnaval dances, the football club San Lorenzo de Almagro. For the last night of the Carnaval season, the club places a very small, barely noticeable ad in the upper reaches of the El Mundo's Dance Guide (see below). Then, on the overleaf, Di Sarli places a large display ad, the sole tango ad on the page, featuring the bandleader himself addressing the reader directly:

To You, Madame, Miss / To You, Sir / Many Thanks!

Says Carlos Di Sarli in the name of SAN LORENZO DE ALMAGRO, and in his own [name], for the extraordinary success of the Dances of Carnaval.

And don't forget that he awaits you tonight at SAN LORENZO DE ALMAGRO

AS ALWAYS, TO THE BEAT OF A TANGO!

It's worth noting that this manner of directly addressing his audience via large display ads was not not all unusual for Maestro Di Sarli. In the future I will post similar ads from this period, each with its own special message.

And here's the modest listing in El Mundo's Dance Guide, upper left:

WITH THE UNEQUALLED
CARLOS DI SARLI

FAREWELL TO CARNAVAL 1943
GAIETY AND HUBBUB AT
SAN LORENZO DE ALMAGRO

GREAT CANDOMBE ENTERTAINMENT
WITH THE DYNAMIC
LEWIS VARONA

PA' MI ES IGUAL: It's all the same to me....

Pa’ mi es igual
Tango, 1932
Música: Lucio Demare & Roberto Fugazot
Letra: Enrique Cadícamo & Agustín Irusta

Selected performances:

Orquesta Típica Lucio Demare canta J. C. Miranda (Tango Decoder's subtitled video in Spanish and English)

Trio Argentino (Demare/Fugazot/Irusta)

Charlo

Francisco Rotundo canta Julio Sosa

Lyrics in original castellano with English-language version by Tango Decoder:

Aquí estamos los dos, bien frente a frente Dame tu mano, machucá la mía, La desgracia ha venido en este día Para ver si somos hombres de verdad. Hoy lo supe, te juro que he llorado Pobrecita, tu vieja, quién diría, Tan guapaza, tan buena, me quería Como a vos, que eras su hijo ¿te acordás? Desembuchá el dolor, vení, sentate Olvidemos aquello que ha pasado, Que nos tuvo diez años distanciados Y el corazón, sin asco, nos bandeó. Mirame hermano, que hace mucho tiempo Que no nos vemos, que no nos hablamos, Sabés que estamos viejos, ya blanqueamos Esas canas que cinchan la vejez. [Total, por unas trenzas y una boca Más roja que la sangre de esa tarde, Ninguno de los dos fuimos cobardes Me tiraste un hachazo… me atajé.] En fin eso pasó ¿Qué? ¿Estás llorando? Mirá, si te hace daño mi pasada, Después de darle un beso a la finada Yo me voy, si vos querés, pa´ mí es igual.

Here we are, the two of us, face to face, Give me your hand, squeeze mine tight. On this day misfortune has come To see if we’re real men. I just heard about it, I swear I’ve been crying, Poor thing, your mom, who’d have thought, So kind and good, she loved me Just like you who were her son, remember? Come, sit down, get it off your chest, Let’s forget what happened in the past, That kept us distant for ten years And stabbed without scruple at our hearts.* Look at me, brother, it’s been a long time Since we’ve seen each other, since we’ve spoken, You know we’re seniors now, our gray hair Is already turning white, a sure sign of old age. [All that, for some braids and a mouth Redder than the blood of that evening, Neither of us were cowards, You hit me with you best shot... I blocked it.]* All that’s behind us now. What? You’re crying? Look, if my stopping by bothers you, After giving the deceased one last kiss, I’ll leave, if you want, it’s all the same to me.

NOTES:

* And stabbed without scruple at our hearts: Y el corazón, sin asco, nos bandeó. The verb bandear/bandearse (from banda, the gunwale 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."

* You hit me with your best shot... I blocked it: Me tiraste un hachazo… me atajé. The noun hachazo can mean an axe- or hatchet-blow, but that is not the sense of this phrase. Axes/hatchets were not generally used or fighting in Argentina, and attacking someone with an axe would be considered very dishonorable. If you really want to hurt someone, you use a knife, and you hope that you handle it better than your opponent! In this song, the hachazo is more likely a powerful blow of some kind, possibly with a knife, but more likely just a fist. The verb atajar means to stop, stem, contain, or check. I discussed this with a couple of older milonguero friends, including Mr. Ivan Chiesa of the Club Independencia and his wife Chochi, and they both think that the protagonist evades the blow in some way. He might block, duck, or parry it, but it doesn't land. Since the verb is used reflexively, me atajé, I believe it may also mean, "I held myself in check." That seems to be in accord with the narrator's conciliatory attitude. Even so, the image of "a pair of lips redder than the blood of that evening" earlier in the stanza does suggest bloodshed, as does the earlier use of the verb bandear (see previous note). As always, the language is generous, and admits of several interpretations!

 

"Baile Con Grabaciones": Dance with recordings, 1943

Not all milongas of the 40s featured live orchestras. There were lots of milongas that played recordings ("baile con grabaciones"). In fact, some of the old milongueros tell us that the more accomplished dancers preferred the dances with recordings. When you went to hear a live orchestra like Di Sarli, Troilo, D'Arienzo, or Pugliese, there could be a few hundred people there (or in some cases, a few thousand) and everyone got up and danced, whether they knew what they were doing or not. So it was often very crowded, the floorcraft could be terrible, and it was sometimes hard to hear the music over the din of the crowd. 

Furthermore, as is true today, more accomplished dancers enjoyed dancing to music that they already knew. (Why? That's another discussion.) But the live orchestras were always debuting new material. The "bailes con grabaciones" on the other hand, were often held in social clubs or other small neighborhood establishments, and they often didn't have a lot of discs on hand. In that case they used to play the same song two or three times to make it last longer.

Around 1944, the Odeón recording company mounted a very strong marketing campaign for their tango artists in Argentina. As part of that campaign, they would sponsor certain dances, just like companies today sponsor entertainment or sporting events. They'd subsidize an ad in the newspaper, and provide the discs.

Another advantage of "bailes con grabaciones" was that the entrance fee was a lot lower than for live shows. A dance with a live orchestra could charge two, two-fifty, or three pesos for men (ladies, typically one peso) while a dance with recordings was one peso or less (ladies, fifty centavos or free). That would have made a big difference to a dedicated milonguero on a tight budget who wanted to dance several nights a week!

[Illustrations: El Mundo, 1943, 1944, 1942]

Gran Veladas: Buenos Aires Milongas for Sunday, 24 September 1944

This has been floating around the web and on Facebook for a while, but in tantalizingly low resolution. It's a two-page spread from El Mundo of Argentina from 1944 showing how Buenos Aires milongas were advertised in a daily newspaper. You can click on the images to see the original, full sized files. They're a lot better resolution than what's been available before. You can actually read the text!

As you can imagine, there's a lot more of this material spanning 1942-45 and beyond. I will be releasing more of it over time, including close-ups of individual ads. Let me know what you think, and what sorts of things you'd like to see.

El Mundo, Sunday, 24 September 1944, p. 17.

El Mundo, 24 September 1944, p. 16.

Subtitled Tango #17: LARGA LAS PENAS (Milonga - Canaro/Maida 1935)

LARGÁ LAS PENAS
(Dump your sorrows)
Words: Manuel Romero
Music: Alberto Soifer (Abraham Moisés Soifer)

Recorded 1935-06-11 by Orquesta Típica Francisco Canaro, vocal Roberto Maida.

Nací para ser milonga Así por la vida voy, Donde un bandoneón rezonga Yo prendida siempre estoy. Milonga, nací milonga Y he de morir como soy. No sé lo que es el cariño Ni sé lo que es el sufrir, Ningún metejón profundo A mí me ha de corregir. Milonga yo vine al mundo Y milonga he de morir. Ayer amor me pediste Pero ya estamos en hoy, Y no duró nunca tanto El amor que a un hombre (que siempre) doy. Y hoy digo: basta, y me planto Como milonga que soy. [Yo quiero vivir mi vida Como el pájaro cantor, No me atan ni con cadenas A la cincha del amor. Milonga, largá las penas Que así se vive mejor.] [Afirman que si está suelto Lo más bien se lame el buey, No admito que se me oponga Dueño, ni patrón, ni rey. Milonga, nací milonga Y he de morir en mi ley.*]

English lyrics text I was born to be Milonga  and so through life I go, wherever a bandoneon growls that’s where I do grow. Milonga, I was born Milonga, and I have to die as I am. I don’t know what love is and suffering never stays, there’s not a passion so deep as to make me mend my ways. Milonga I came into the world and Milonga I will die. Yesterday love called to me, but now it is today, and the love I give a man* never long does stay. And now I say: enough, I’m gone, like Milonga that I am. I want to live my life like a bird that sings;  the chains and reins of love  will never bind my wings. Milonga, cast off your sorrows, that better you may live. The ox that's loose, licks best they say;*  no boss, no master, no king will ever stand in my way. Milonga, I was born Milonga, and I must die by my law.*

 

NOTES:

* the love that I give to a man: The text says El amor que a un hombre doy, the love that I give to a man. On the recording, Maida sings, el amor que siempre doy, the love that I always give.

*by my law: en mi ley, possibly a reference to Chronicles 6:16. ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’

*ox...yoke: Variant of the popular saying, “El buey solo bien se lame,” literally, a free ox licks itself well. An ox takes pleasure in licking itself (!), but it can’t lick when it’s in the yoke. When it’s free of the yoke, it licks itself all over--very pleasurable. In other words, Milonga will be happy only when it is free of authority and social control (master, boss, or king).

English-language version Copyright © 2014 by Michael Krugman and Tango Decoder.

 

ORLANDO GONI thanks you!

"ORLANDO GOÑI gives thanks on behalf of his ORCHESTRA and his singer RODRIGUEZ LESENDE for the lavish praises given on the night of their debut." [1943-12-03]

LUCIO DEMARE: LISTEN at 6, DANCE at 8!

"TODAY listen at 6 p.m. on Radio El Mundo and dance at 8 in the club Def. de Santos Lugares, Bonifacini 1150, with LUCIO DEMARE and his new singer, Raúl Berón." [17 January 1943]

OSVALDO DONATO at the Confitería El Diamante

From our 1940s Milonga Advertising series: Osvaldo Donato (1908-1975) had been the pianist for all of his brother Edgardo's orchestras since 1927. He was the composer of SACALE PUNTA, SOY MENDIGO, EL HURACÁN, UN LIBRO, and 23 other tangos, valses, and milongas. In May of 1943, after personnel problems resulting from a love triangle among the orchestra's three singers, the Típica Edgardo Donato bifurcated into a new orchestra formed by Edgardo, and another formation led by Osvaldo which included most of Edgardo's former band and singer Horacio Lagos. On Sunday, December 5, 1943, the Típica Osvaldo Donato began an engagement at the Confitería El Diamante at Rivadavia 2699. Vocalists were Horacio Lagos and Roberto Galvan. Here's how it looked in the newspaper that morning....

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Subtitled Tango #16: A QUIÉN LE PUEDE IMPORTAR

A QUIÉN LE PUEDE IMPORTAR (Who could possibly care?)
Recorded by Angel D'Agostino, vocal Angel Vargas, 1945-08-07
Music by Mariano Mores; lyrics by Enrique Cadícamo

Gime, bandoneón, grave y rezongón en la nocturna verbena. En mi corazón tu gangoso son hace más honda mi pena. Con tu viruta sentimental vas enredando mi viejo mal, un viejo mal que me ha dejado enamorado, arrinconado, y olvidado para siempre. Sin una sola caricia que mi tristeza mitigue su risa mala me persigue y me persigue, mientras sigue tu responso, ¡bandoneón! A quién le puede importar ¡eh, bandoneón! que he sido bueno. A quién le puede importar el novelón del mal ajeno. Si a ella que fue mi querer no le importó mi abatimiento. A quién le puede importar ¡che bandoneón! mi sufrimiento. Suena menos gris tango, para mí. Sé que jamás la encontraré. Te saldré a bailar para disfrazar el drama que llevo adentro. En otros brazos me engañaré, en otras bocas me aturdiré aunque sus ojos y su risa me persigan y me sigan y me digan que la quiero.

Moan, bandoneón grumbling and grave in the night of open-air dancing In my heart your nasal sound makes my sorrow even deeper. With your sentimental murmuring you keep stirring up my old troubles, old troubles that left me enamored, discarded, and forgotten for ever more. Without a single caress to relieve my sadness your wicked laughter pursues me and pursues me, while you keep scolding me ¡bandoneón! Who could possibly care, ¡eh, bandoneón! how I’ve been. Who could possibly care about the melodrama of someone else’s troubles? If she who was my love doesn’t care about my dejection? Who could possibly care ¡eh, bandoneón! about my sufferings? Sound a bit less gray for me, tango. I know that I’ll never find her. I’ll go out dancing with you to disguise the drama I’m carrying within. In another’s arms fool myself by other lips I’ll be bewildered even though her eyes and her laughter pursue me and follow me and tell me that I love her.

Tango
Música: Mariano Mores
Letra: Enrique Cadícamo



 









Iré a borrar el fantasma
de aquel amor siempre atento,
así termina este lamento
y el tormento de este cruento
sufrimiento...
¡Bandoneón !

I’ll come to erase the spectre
of that ever-present love
thus ends this lament
and the torment of this bloody
suffering...
¡Bandoneón!

Subtitled Video #15: FALSEDAD ("Hypocrisy") Canaro/Maida, 1936

FALSEDAD (Hypocrisy)
Tango, 1936
Music: Hector Maria Artola
Lyrics: Alfredo Placido Navarrine
Performance: Orquesta Típica Francisco Canaro
with vocal by Roberto Maida 

Si te han dicho, que se besa por limosna... te han mentido, porque yo, no imploro compasión. bien poco ha de valer, ese, tu mundo de ambición... si un sueño no te nutre el corazón. No prolongues ni un instante, tu cobarde retirada. !para qué!, si en mi no habrá rencor, !que importa si detrás, dejas la ruina y el dolor! !adelante! yo me aquieto con mi amor. Lo acunó la nube, lo doró el sol.. es trino en el ave y aroma en la flor... !tu mundo egoista, de pompas odiosas, jamás vio las rosa del alba interior. Despues de tus triunfo, vendrá la verdad, oirás los violines de mi soledad, gimiendo en tus días opacos de hastío, el eco sombrío de tu falsedad. Con gesto doloroso de mi vida, pisoteada, aquí estoy... !de frente a tu crueldad! !quién sabe, de los dos, cuál es mas digno de piedad, midiendo, mi tristeza y tu maldad. Si supieras como arden, tus miradas compasivas, !basta ya!, déjame por favor, ya nunca lograrás, amordazar mi sinsabor, !hoy me abrazo, al milagro de este amor!

If they’ve told you that one kisses out of charity... they’ve lied to you, because I don’t want your pity. What good would that be, if, in your world of ambition, no dream nourishes your heart? Don’t prolong, not even for an instant, your cowardly withdrawal. What for, since there’s no rancor on my side? What does it matter if you leave behind ruin and pain? Go ahead! I calm myself with my love. The cloud rocked it, the sun bronzed it... It’s the trill of the bird, the fragrance of the flower... Your egotistical world, with its detestable splendor, never saw the rosy glow of the inner dawn. After your triumph, the truth will out! You’ll hear the violins of my loneliness, Moaning in your weary, melancholy days, a dismal echo of your insincerity. With my life’s pained expression trampled, here I am Face to face with your cruelty! Of the two, who knows which is more pitiable on balance, my sadness or your malice? If you only knew how they burn, those compassionate glances of yours! Enough already! Let me be, please; never again will you succeed in muzzling my displeasure, Today I embrace the wonder of this love affair!

TIEMPOS VIEJOS: Without cocaine or hair gel

"They knew nothing of cocaine and morphine; the guys back then didn’t even use hair gel!"

TIEMPOS VIEJOS/Te acordás, hermano?
(Old Times/Do you remember, brother?)
Tango, 1926
Music: Francisco Canaro
Lyrics: Manuel Romero

Tiempos Viejos on YouTube:

Orquesta Francisco Canaro with Antonio Maida
Rafael Canaro with Aldo Campoamor
Carlos Gardel
Charlo
Osvaldo Pugliese with Abel Cordoba
Armando Pontier with Julio Sosa

[Illus.: Gomina Brancato was a type of hair gel popularized by Carlos Gardel and other tango musicians of the Golden Age.]

¿Te acordás, hermano? ¡Qué tiempos aquellos! Eran otros hombres, más hombres los nuestros No se conocía cocó, ni morfina, Los muchachos de antes no usaban gomina. ¿Te acordás, hermano? ¡Qué tiempos aquellos! ¡Veinticinco abriles que no volverán! ¡Veinticinco abriles! ¡Volver a tenerlos! ¡Si cuando me acuerdo, me pongo a llorar! ¿Dónde están los muchachos de entonces? Barra antigua de ayer ¿Dónde está? Yo y vos solos quedamos, hermano, Yo y vos solos para recordar... ¿Dónde están las mujeres aquellas, minas fieles, de gran corazón, que en los bailes de Laura peleaban cada cual defendiendo su amor? ¿Te acordás, hermano, la rubia Mireya que quité en lo de Hansen, al guapo Rivera? ¡Casi me suicido una noche por ella... y hoy es una pobre mendiga harapienta! ¿Te acordás, hermano, lo linda que era? Se formaba rueda pa´ verla bailar... Cuando por la calle la veo tan vieja Doy vuelta la cara y me pongo a llorar...

Do you remember, brother? What times those were! They were other men, more manly, those men of ours. They knew nothing of cocaine and morphine, the guys back then didn’t even use hair gel.* Do you remember, brother? What times those were! Twenty-five years that will never return! Twenty-five years! To hear of them again! When I remember, it makes me cry. Where are the guys from back then? Old gang of yesteryear, where is it? You and I are the only ones left, brother. You and I alone are left to remember... Where are the real women, faithful girls, all heart, who used to mix it up at Laura’s dances,* each one defending her man? Do you remember, brother, that blonde Mireya, who I stole from the guapo Rivera at Hansen's place?* I almost killed myself one night on her account, and today she’s a ragged beggar. Do you remember, brother, what a looker she was? They used to form a circle to watch her dance... When I saw her on the street so old and shabby I turned away and started to cry.

NOTES:

* Hair gel: Gomina Brancato was a type of hair gel popularized by Carlos Gardel and other tango musicians of the Golden Age. A similar preparation could be made at home using gum tragacanth.

* Laura's dances: "Lo de Laura" was an early tango dance hall hosted by "la morocha" Laura Montserrat in the last years of the nineteenth century. It was located in Recoleta at Paraguay 2512. Laura's was luxurious, had a select clientele, and often featured the pianist "el negro" Rosendo Medizábal (1868-1913), composer of "El entrerriano," believed to be the oldest tango in the modern repertoire.

* el guapo Rivera: The name of is given differently in different versions of the song: "el loco Cepeda," "el loco Rivera," or "el guapo Rivera." Stealing the girlfriend of a lunatic (possibly just a kook, a nut, or a person of low social standing) would have been of minor significance, but stealing the girlfriend of a guapo would have been a big deal, because a guapo was a highly respected, influential figure in the arrabal, and would have been very good with a knife.

Hansens's place: The narrator recalls stealing the girl Mireya from someone at Lo de Hansen, a well known restaurant and dance hall sometimes credited as the birthplace of tango. The mention of both Laura and Hansen place the action of the song clearly in the period around the end of the nineteenth century, twenty-five years "abriles" (years) before the song was written.

Subtitled Tango Nr. 14: LLUEVE OTRA VEZ (Laurenz/Bermudez)

LLUEVE OTRA VEZ (It's raining again) performed by Orquesta Típica Pedro Laurenz with vocal by Carlos Bermudez. Recorded 26 April 1944.

Words and music by Juan José Guichandut (11 November 1909 - 17 October 1979.

Our bilingual subtitled video with English-language translation by Tango Decoder is below. Scroll down for our face-to-face text in Spanish and English.

 

Full lyrics of LLUEVE OTRA VEZ (including the unsung final stanza) with Tango Decoder's English-language version, notes and commentary.

 

Escucha corazón el eco de su voz... Escucha, corazón, está lloviendo y la lluvia va tejiendo los recuerdos de su amor. ¡Qué pena, corazón! No es ella, ni es su voz. Tan sólo es la obsesión que me domina, el recuerdo que castiga desde su adiós. Llueve... y un látigo de luz me azota, relámpago de fiebre loca. La lluvia, sin cesar, golpeando en el cristal,   renueva la emoción perdida. Y entre la bruma creo ver su imagen, igual que entonces, diciendo adiós. Llueve... y el cielo se llenó de sombras, lo mismo que mi corazón. Tristeza que dejó el eco de su voz. Tristeza de esperar inútilmente y creer que nuevamente con la lluvia volverá. ¡No esperes, corazón! ¡No penes por su amor! Mañana cuando el sol radiante asome al calor de otros amores, olvidarás.

Listen, heart, the echo of her voice... Listen, heart, it’s raining and the rain keeps on weaving the memories of her love. What a pity, heart! It’s not her, not her voice. It's only the obsession that rules me, the memory that afflicts at me, since she said goodbye. It's raining... and a lash of light scourges me, lightning flash of mad frenzy. The rain, unceasing, beating on the glass, rekindles the lost emotion. And amidst the fog I think I see your image, just as it was then, saying farewell. It rains... and the sky is filled with shadows, the same as my heart. Sadness that left behind the echo of your voice. Sadness of waiting hopelessly and believing that once again, with the rain, she’ll return. Don’t hope, heart! Don’t pine for her love! Tomorrow when the radiant sun appears, with the warmth of other loves, you’ll forget.