Tango Time Machine — Tango Decoder

DANDY: Upward mobility for a low-life

"Dandy, that’s what they call you now, those who didn’t know you when you were a vagabond.... Because now you pass for a spoiled rich kid and they think you’re some kind of big shot! I know better, dandy, I know you’re broke...."

DANDY (Dandy)
Music: Lucio Demare
Lyrics: Augustín Irustia / Roberto Fugazot

[Cafe Dandy, Buenos Aires. Photo: Tango Decoder]

Dandy, ahora te llaman los que no te conocieron cuando entonces eras terrán, porque pasás por niño bien y ahora te creen que sos un gran bacán; mas yo sé, dandy, que sos un seco, y en el barrio se comentan fulerías, para tu mal... Cuando sepan que sos confidente, tus amigos del café te piantarán. Has nacido en una cuna de malevos, calaveras, de vivillos y otras yerbas... Sin embargo, ¡quién diria!, en el circo de la vida siempre fuistes un chabón. Entre la gente del hampa no has tenido performance, pero dicen los pipiolos que se ha corrido la bolilla y han junado que sos un gran batidor... Dandy, en vez de darte tanto corte pensá un poco en tu viejita y en su dolor. Tu pobre hermana en el taller su vida entrega con entero amor y por las noches su almita enferma, con la de su madrecita en una sola sufriendo están... Pero un dia, cuando nieve en tu cabeza, a tu hermana y a tu vieja llorarás.

Dandy, that’s what they call you now those who didn’t know you when you were a vagabond,* because now you pass for a spoiled rich kid and they think you’re some kind of bigshot; I know better, dandy, I know you’re broke,* and in the barrio they say nasty things about you. When your friends from the cafe find out you’re a squealer, they’ll give you the slip. You were born in a cradle of hoodlums, players, hustlers and other weeds... Nevertheless, who can say? in the circus of life you were always a bit of a clown.* Among the underworld types you haven’t had a performance, but a little bird has told them that a rumor has gone around* and they’ve guessed that you’re a big informer... Dandy, instead of strutting around, just think of your mother and of her pain. Your poor sister in the sweatshop she gives it all she's got and by night her little heart sickens with that of her dear mother; they're suffering as one.... But one day when it snows on your head you’ll cry for mother and your sister.

* vagabond: terrán. "Vesre" slang, the Spanish word atorrante (vagabond, lazy, idle, slothful).

* broke: seco, lit. "dry." (Lunfardo).

* clown: chabán. Lit. a twit or a fool.

* a rumor has gone around: se ha corrido la bolilla. The expression, correrse la bolilla, "to roll the marble," means to spread gossip or rumors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

UN DILEMA: Paradise perplexed

Un dilema (A dilemma)
Words: Enrique Cadícamo
Music: Julio De Caro
Recorded: 1942 by Julio De Caro with Augustín Volpe
(video follows text)

Tango Decoder's version of UN DILEMA is inspired by and dedicated to Theresa Faus.

Other Tango Decoder versions by Enrique Cadícamo:
Argañaraz  •  Compadrón  •  El cuarteador  •  Muñeca brava  •  No vendrá  •  Si la llegaran a ver  •  Tres esquinas  •  Tu llamado 

 

Yo soñaba con ella un Edén, paraíso feliz... Todo color. No pensaba, jamás, que ese Edén pudiera tambalear delante de otro amor... La fuerza de un extraño y gran querer hoy viene a aquel paisaje ensombrecer... Qué he de hacer corazón, qué he de hacer, el dilema aquí está sin resolver... Dilema complejo es el asunto... Qué debo hacer, pregunto, ... si olvidarla... si quererla... si dejarla de querer. Dilema los dos amores queman, la suerte lo decida y en mi vida queda aquel... que mande Dios. Que misterios que encierra el amor lo que ayer fue ilusión, deja hoy de ser... Por la senda de un nuevo querer camino como ayer... eterno soñador... No sé cuál ha de ser este final... Mas temo, porque soy sentimental, qué he de hacer, corazón, qué he de hacer. El dilema aquí está sin resolver...

In my dreams she was an Eden, happy paradise... all in bloom. I never thought, ever, that Eden might stagger before another love... Now the force of a strange and great love casts that landscape in shadow... What must I do, heart, what must I do, the dilemma, here it is, unresolved. Dilemma the subject is complex... What am I to do, I ask, ...forget her... love her... stop loving her. Dilemma the two loves burn, fate is deciding it, and in my life remains that one... which God wills. [Love holds such mysteries that which yesterday was but a dream, today ceases to be... I walk the path of a new love as before... the eternal dreamer... I don’t know what the ending is to be... But I worry, because I’m a romantic, what am I supposed to do, heart, what am I supposed to do? The dilemma, here it is, unresolved.]

 

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.)

 

 

Subtitled Tango No. 13: AVE DE PASO (D'Agostino/Vargas)

"Release me from my vow, brown-skinned girl.
 Forget the madness of my loving you.
Buenos Aires compels me to leave you,
and under her skies I’ll dream of you...."

The story behind the song: In 1936 the renowned singer Charlo is headed for a series of gigs in Río de Janeiro aboard the luxury liner Conte Biancamano. He is accompanied by his friend, noted poet and tango lyricist Enrique Cadícamo, and José Razzano, guitarist and business partner of the late Carlos Gardel. During the week-long voyage they meet the Miranda Sisters, Carmen and Aurora, a locally known duo returning to Río from a gig in Buenos Aires. Charlo conducts a torrid, fleeting, shipboard romance with Carmen (shown, right), who was soon after to become a Hollywood sensation.

[Scroll down for Tango Decoder's subtitled video and text translation of Ave De Paso.]

Charlo is a great success in Río, though unfortunately his agent deposits most of the proceeds at the gaming tables of the casino.

A certain Heriberto Muraro, a highly regarded Argentine pianist who has lived in Río for many years, is a frequent visitor at the flat rented by Charlo and company on the Avenida Atlántica. One afternoon, Muraro engages Cadícamo to write a tango lyric for him to set to music. "And I'm not going to budge from this spot until it's done," jokes the pianist.

"No problem," says Cadícamo, eager to complete the assignment. He borrows Charlo's portable typewriter and finishes the job in record time. At that moment, Charlo reads the lyric of AVE DE PASO over the poet's shoulder. "That's for me," says the singer, ripping the paper out of the machine. "Write another one for Muraro." The astonished Muraro is left without the promised lyric. Cadícamo promises to send him another one, but later forgets all about it.

Charlo composes a beautiful musical accompaniment to AVE DE PASO on his accordion. He not only sings and records it brilliantly, but makes it the prelude to all his later performances, a kind of theme song.

 

[Source: Tangos al bardo]

 

AVE DE PASO (Bird of passage)
Tango, 1936
Words by Enrique Cadícamo; music by Charlo.
Performed 1944-11-02 by Orquesta Angel D'Agostino, vocal Angel Vargas.

Bilingual Spanish/English subtitles and English-language translation by Tango Decoder. All Rights Reserved.

Full text translation:

Ha llegado el momento querida, de ausentarme quién sabe hasta cuándo. En mis labios se asoma temblando una mueca que dice el adiós... Nuestro amor fue un amor del momento, mi cariño fue un ave de paso y tus besos de miel y de raso fue un vaso sagrado que no olvidaré. ¡Adiós, muñequita de cobre! Muchacha morena, tu amor tropical exhala en mi alma su risa salobre como una canción sentimental. La luna de Río se queda para que en las noches le cuente que yo pasé por tu lado, viajero incansable, pasé por tu lado y dejé el corazón. Mi destino es andar en la vida... Hice mal en soñar a tu lado. Se ha teñido ese cielo rosado... al conjuro de darte esta adiós... Perdoná mi promesa, morena. Olvidá mi locura de amarte. Buenos Aires mi obliga a dejarte y bajo esos cielos con vos soñaré...

The time has come, dear, for me to go away ’til who knows when. My trembling lips start to show an expression that says goodbye. Our love was a passing fancy, my affection was a bird of passage, and your kiss of honey and satin was a sacred vessel that I won’t forget. Goodbye, copper-colored cutie!* Brown-skinned girl, your torrid love*... breathes its lusty laughter into my soul* like a sentimental song. The Rio moon remains as a nightly reminder that I passed by your side, tireless traveler, passed by your side and left my heart. My destiny is to wander in this life... I was wrong to dream at your side. This sky has been dyed pink under the spell of giving you this farewell. Release me from my vow, brown-skinned girl. Forget the madness of my loving you. Buenos Aires compels me to leave you, and under her skies I’ll dream of you....

 NOTES:

* copper-colored cutie: muñequita de cobre. There was a flat, round, hot-water bottle made of copper that was used to warm a bed on cold winter nights, that was also called a muñequita de cobre. Make of it what you will.

*torrid love: amor tropical. In the Southern Cone, the word tropical means "tropical, melodramatic, or high-colored." With a little poetic license, "torrid."

* breathes its lusty laughter into my soul: Charlo's 1950 recording of the song renders this line as "exhala un perfume de brisa salobre," which means "gives off a perfume of salty breeze(s)."

 

Subtitled Tango Nr. 13: AVE DE PASO (D'Agostino/Vargas)

"Release me from my vow, brown-skinned girl.

Forget the madness of my loving you.
Buenos Aires compels me to leave you,
and under her skies I’ll dream of you...."

The story behind the song: In 1936 the great tango singer Charlo is headed for a series of gigs in Río de Janeiro aboard the luxury liner Conte Biancamano. He is accompanied by his friend, noted poet and tango lyricist Enrique Cadícamo, and guitarist José Razzano, former guitarist and business partner of the late Carlos Gardel. During the week-long voyage, they meet the Miranda Sisters, Carmen and Aurora, a locally known duo returning to Río from a gig in Buenos Aires. Charlo and Carmen (shown, right), who was soon after to become a Hollywood sensation, have a torrid, fleeting, shipboard romance.

Charlo is a great success in Río, though unfortunately his agent deposits most of the proceeds at the gaming tables of the casino.

A certain Heriberto Muraro, a highly regarded Argentine pianist who has lived in Río for many years, is a frequent visitor at the flat rented by Charlo and company on the Avenida Atlántica. One afternoon, Muraro engages Cadícamo to write a tango lyric for him to set to music. "And I'm not going to budge from this spot until it's done," jokes the pianist.

"No problem," says Cadícamo. He borrows Charlo's portable typewriter and, eager to complete the assignment, finishes the job in record time. At that moment, Charlo reads the lyric of AVE DE PASO over the poet's shoulder. "That's for me," says the singer, tearing the paper out of the machine. "Write another one for Muraro." The astonished Muraro is left without the promised lyric. Cadícamo promises to send him another one, but later forgets all about it.

Charlo composes a beautiful musical accompaniment to AVE DE PASO on his accordion. He not only sings and records it brilliantly, but makes it the prelude to all his later performances, a kind of theme song.

 

[Source: Tangos al bardo]

 

AVE DE PASO (Bird of passage)
Tango, 1936
Words by Enrique Cadícamo; music by Charlo.
Performed 1944-11-02 by Orquesta Angel D'Agostino, vocal Angel Vargas.

Bilingual Spanish/English subtitles and English-language translation by Tango Decoder. All Rights Reserved.

The third verse, unsung in the D'Agostino/Vargas version:

Mi destino es andar en la vida... Hice mal en soñar a tu lado. Se ha teñido ese cielo rosado... al conjuro de darte esta adiós... Perdoná mi promesa, morena. Olvidá mi locura de amarte. Buenos Aires mi obliga a dejarte y bajo esos cielos con vos soñaré...

My destiny is to travel around in this life... I was wrong to dream at your side. This pink sky has been dyed under the spell of giving you this farewell. Release me from my vow, brown-skinned girl. Forget the madness of my loving you. Buenos Aires compels me to leave you, and under her skies I’ll dream of you....

 

Subtitled Tango Nr. 11: MONEDA DE COBRE (Copper Coin)

Moneda de Cobre (Copper Coin)
Tango, Recorded 1943-04-01
Music: Carlos Viván
Lyrics: Horacio Sanguinetti
English-language translation and subtitles Copyright © 2014 by Michael Krugman.

Performance by Orquesta Típica Lucio Demare with vocal by Raúl Berón. Recorded on this day in 1943.

Note: This performance was recorded in 1943, after the Argentine government had begun censoring tango lyrics. For the complete, original lyrics, including the unsung third verse, plus notes and commentary, please see our earlier post on MONEDA DE COBRE. We're planning a subtitled version of the uncensored 1942 Tanturi/Castillo version, too. Stay tuned!

 [Photo: Singer a cabaret performer Josephine Baker.]

Subtitled Tango No. 12: NINGUNA (Malerba/Medina)

"Your skin, magnolia drenched in moonlight. Your voice, whisper warmed by love. No one like you will there be; they all died the moment you said goodbye."

From the pen of one of tango's greatest poets comes one of the greatest love songs in any genre, Ninguna (No One).

Ninguna (No one)
Tango, 1942
Music: Raúl Fernández Siro
Words: Homero Manzi

Tango Decoder's bilingual subtitles and English-language translation Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved. Other rights remain with the owners.

Honoring Enrique Santos Discepolo, Born 27 March

In honor of the birthday of Enrique Santos Discépolo (1901-03-27), Tango Decoder offers English-language versions of eight of his songs.

• ALMA DE BANDEÓN
• CARILLÓN DE LA MERCED
• CONDENA
• ESTA NOCHE ME EMBORRACHO
• HUMILLACIÓN
• INFAMIA 
• TORMENTA
• UNO

 

Subtitled Tango No. 10: La Piba De Los Jasmines (1943)

"She was the shop’s hardest worker, industrious, happy, and honest, who stole her blush from the red clouds of the sky at dawn."

LA PIBA DE LOS JASMINES (The Girl with the Jasmines)
Tango, 1943
Words : Julio Plácido Navarrine
Music : Ricardo Malerba / Dante Smurra

Tango Decoder's bilingual, subtitled video for LA PIBA DE LOS JASMINES is below. Our full text, notes, and commentary are here.

ALGUIEN (Someone)

ALGUIEN (Someone) 1956
Letra : Eugenio Majul
Música : Héctor Stamponi

¿De sal?... ¿de miel?... ¿de qué?
mi boca se impregnó,
tentada por tus besos.
¿De sal?... ¿de miel?... ¡no sé!,
lo nuestro se quebró,
¡fetiche, al fin, de yeso!
Duele pensar que Dios nos llamará,
que el tiempo se nos va...
¡cortón, igual que un rezo!
¡Amar... sufrir... rodar;
no hallar el buen amor
y hastiarse de esperar!

Salty? Sweet? Which?
My lips are pervaded,
seduced by your kisses.
Salty? Sweet? I can’t tell!
Our love is shattered,
a fetish, in the end, of plaster!
It pains me to think that God will call us,
that time is slipping away.
Timid, just like a prayer!
To love... to suffer... to wander;
to yearn for true love
and to tire of waiting.
 
La calle me dio tu vida
Pasabas, sola y herida,
¡No sé por qué te amé! ¡No sé por qué!
Acaso porque en alguien pensé encontrarme...
¡En alguien... que me quisiera!...
¡En alguien... que en mí creyera!...
Hubo una esquina, tú pasabas con tu mal
Te quise y fue mi amor... fatal.

The street gave your life to me.
You used to pass, alone and wounded.
I don’t know why I loved you! I don’t know why!
Perhaps it was because I thought in someone I would find myself...
Someone... who might love me!...
Someone... who would believe in me!...
There was a corner, you used to pass with your misfortune
I loved you and it was my love...disastrous.
 
Ya ves, recién... tú y yo
Rasgamos ese tul
Tan triste como vano.
Ya ves, recién voló
La mariposa azul
Del sueño más cercano.
Fue torpe y cruel la juventud tirar
Y en el ocaso ya, buscar dos blancas manos,
Vivir... soñar... sentir
El barro a nuestros pies
¡Y en él los pies hundir...!

Now you see, only now... you and I
we drop the veil from our eyes
as sad as it is pointless.
Now you see, only now,
the blue butterfly
of the dream flew closer.
It was stupid and cruel to throw our youth away
and now, in the twilight, to look for two pale hands,
to live... to dream... to feel
the mud under our feet...
our feet sinking into it!

English-language translation Copyright © 2015 by Michael Krugman. All Rights Reserved.[Photo: Avenida Entre Rios, Buenos Aires. Copyright © 2015 by Michael Krugman.]

MANANA ZARPA UN BARCO: Swaying sailor says sayonara

"Let's dance to the echo of the final beat--a ship sails tomorrow, perhaps I'll never return."

Buenos Aires gave me a big dose of Mañana zarpa un barco last night, this morning, and today. When I read the lyrics tears came to my eyes! Isn't amazing how relevant these seventy-year-old songs can be to our lives? So naturally I had to do my own version.... (Dedicated to Madame X.)

[Pic: "Portrait of Madame X" by John Singer Sargent.]

Mañana zarpa un barco (1942)
(A ship sails tomorrow)
Words: Homero Manzi
Music: Lucio Demare

Riberas que no cambian tocamos al anclar,

cien puertos nos regalan la música del mar,

muchachas de ojos tristes nos vienen a esperar,

y el gusto de las copas parece siempre igual.

Tan sólo aquí en tu puerto se alegra el corazón,

Riachuelo donde sangra la voz del bandoneón.

Bailemos hasta el eco del último compás—

mañana zarpa un barco, tal vez no vuelva más.

We drop anchor on unchanging shores,
a hundred ports regale us with the music of the sea,
sad-eyed girls come out to wait for us,
and the taste of the drinks always seems the same.
Only here in your port does my heart rejoice,
Riachuelo, where the voice of the bandoneón bleeds.
Let’s dance ’til the echo of the final beat--
a ship sails tomorrow, perhaps I’ll never return.

Qué bien se baila

sobre la tierra firme—

mañana al alba

tenemos que zarpar.

La noche es larga,
no quiero que estés triste,

muchacha, vamos—

no sé por qué llorás.

How well one dances
on dry land--
tomorrow at dawn
we’ve got to set sail.
The night is long,
I don’t want you to be sad,
come on girl—
I don’t know why you cry.


Diré tu nombre

cuando me encuentre lejos,

tendré un recuerdo

para contarle al mar.

La noche es larga,

no quiero que estés triste,

muchacha, vamos—

no sé por qué llorás.

I’ll say your name
when I find myself far away
I’ll have a memory to tell the sea.
The night is long,
I don’t want you to be sad,
come on girl—
I don’t know why you cry.

Dos meses en un barco viajó mi corazón,

dos meses añorando la voz del bandoneón.

El tango es puerto amigo donde ancla la ilusión,

al ritmo de su danza se hamaca la emoción—
de noche, con la luna soñando sobre el mar,

el ritmo de las olas me miente su compás.

Bailemos este tango, no quiero recordar—

mañana zarpa un barco, tal vez no vuelva más.

Two months at sea my heart traveled—
Two months yearning for the voice of the bandoneón.
Tango is a friendly port where dreams drop anchor,
Emotion sways to the rhythm of the dance—
by night with the moon dreaming over the sea,
the rhythm of the waves fools me with its beat.
Let’s dance this tango, I don’t want to remember—
a ship sails tomorrow, perhaps I’ll never return.

Other Tango Decoder versions by Homero Manzi:
ARRABAL  •  BARRIO DE TANGO  •  CORNETÍN  •  EL ÚLTIMO ORGANITO  •  NINGUNA  •  SUR

Subtitled Tango Video No. 9: SACALE PUNTA (Sharpen it up!)

Ear to ear, the couples
Dance to the sound
Of a tango drunk on memories
That never fell down,
But, since the times of Laura,
felt as bright as a diamond
and sparkled.

SACALE PUNTA (Sharpen it up)
Milonga tangueada, 1938
Music: Osvaldo Donato
Lyrics: Sandalio Gómez

Full text of lyrics with Tango Decoder's notes and commentary.

Bilingual tango lyrics in Spanish and English: SACALE PUNTA (Sharpen it up!)

SACALE PUNTA (Sharpen it up)*
Milonga tangueada, 1938
Music: Osvaldo Donato
Lyrics: Sandalio Gómez

These lyrics were transcribed exactly from a copy of the sheet music in the collection of the Asociación General de Autores de Uruguay (AGADU), Montevideo, Uruguay. English-language version by Michael Krugman for Tango Decoder, Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Tango Decoder's special thanks go to the staff at AGADU for providing the text, and to Montevideo's Julio and Dina "Vinoblanco" and to Willi N. for their invaluable assistance in interpreting the lyric.

Also by Tango Decoder: Subtitled Tango Video #9: SACALE PUNTA by Edgardo Donato y sus Muchachos (with subtitles in Spanish and English)

I

Sacale punta a este milonga
Que ya empezó.
Sentí esos fueyes que rezongen
De corazón
Y las pebetas se han venido
De truco y flor.
El tango es rey que da a la vida
Y en sus notas desparrama
Su amor.

Sharpen up this milonga
that already started.
Check out these bellows that murmur*
from the heart
And the girls who've come,
wildly eager (to start dancing).*
The tango is king who gives to life
and spreads his love
with every note.

II

Tango lindo de arrabal
Que yo,
No lo he visto desmayar
Triunfó.
Tango que a contar
Volcó,
Su fé, su amor, varón,
Tenés que ser.

Beautiful tango of the arrabal,
That I,
have never seen it falter.
It triumphed!
Beautiful tango that in song
Expressed
Its faith, its love,
A man, you've got to be!


III

Nada hay que hacer al meta y ponga
Del bandoneón.
Oreja a oreja los parejas
Bailan al son.
De un tango curda de recuerdos
Que no cayó.
Si desde los tiempos de Laura
Se ha sentido primer agua
Y brilló.

You don't have to do anything
To the steady cadence of the bandoneón.*
Ear to ear the couples*
Dance to the sound
Of a tango drunk on memories
That never fell down,
But, since the times of Laura*
Felt diamond-bright*
and it sparkled.

NOTES:

* Sacale punta a este milonga: The phrase refers literally to the act of sharpening of a pencil, i.e., put a point on it. The singer urges someone--perhaps the other musicians, or perhaps the males in attendance--to sharpen up, or put a point on the milonga, that is, to do their best to make it a stimulating experience. The phrase also has a sexual connotation suggesting the priming of the penis for intercourse.

* bellows: The word fueye (or fuelle) means bellows, and is often used as another name for the bandoneón.

* girls... wildly eager to start dancing: se han venido de truco y flor. Truco and flor are plays in the popular, high-spirited game of truco. Here, the expression truco y flor is intended to convey the excitement and urgency of the game. The pebetas in attendance are, like truco players, wildly eager (in this case, to start dancing). The reflexive verb venirse, to come, may also have a sexual connotation.

* steady cadence. The Lunfardo expression meta y ponga is derived from two verbs with nearly the same meaning, meter (to put in) and poner (to put). It signifies something that happens repeatedly, again and again, without stopping. Here, it suggests the unceasing opening and closing movement of the bellows of the bandoneón. It may also have a sexual connotation, as in the movie A Clockwork Orange: "the old in-out."

* ear to ear: probably a reference to the canyengue style of tango, in which both partners face forward in the line of dance, their heads side by side, ear to ear. Thanks to Dirk Steinkampf for questioning my translation of the line, and thanks to Dina "Vinoblanco" for the final revelation.

* since the times of Laura: "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 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.

* felt diamond-bright: Se ha sentido primer agua. Primer agua ("first water") is a term used in the diamond trade to denote stones of the highest clarity and brilliance.

Subtitled tango no. 7: Barrio De Tango (Calo with Ortiz)

"A bit of barrio, there in Pompeya, falling asleep on the side of the embankment. A lantern swinging on the railway barrier and the train sowing its mysteries of farewell.... That's how I remember your nights, tango barrio, with the wagons pulling into the timber yard, the moon splashing in the mud, and in the distance, the voice of the bandoneón."

BARRIO DE TANGO (Barrio of Tango, 1942)
Lyrics: Homero Manzi
Music: Aníbal Troilo

Performed here by Miguel Caló with vocal by Jorge Ortiz. Bilingual subtitles by Michael Krugman for Tango Decoder, Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:
• BARRIO DE TANGO side-by-side text in Spanish and English.
• BARRIO DE TANGO subtitled video with performance by Orquesta Típica Aníbal Troilo and Francisco Fiorentino.

Subtitled tango #6: Barrio de tango (Troilo/Manzi with Fiorentino)

Subtitled Video #6: BARRIO DE TANGO: Memories and mysteries from Manzi

"A bit of barrio, there in Pompeya, falling asleep on the side of the embankment. A lantern swinging on the railway barrier and the train sowing its mysteries of farewell.... That's how I remember your nights, tango barrio, with the wagons pulling into the timber yard, the moon splashing in the mud, and in the distance, the voice of the bandoneón."

Barrio de tango (1942)
Music: Aníbal Troilo
Words: Homero Manzi (pictured)

Our subtitled video is below. Our face-to-face text in Spanish and English is below the video.

Un pedazo de barrio, allá en Pompeya, durmiéndose al costado del terraplén. Un farol balanceando en la barrera y el misterio de adiós que siembra el tren. Un ladrido de perros a la luna. El amor escondido en un portón. Y los sapos redoblando en la laguna y a lo lejos la voz del bandoneón. Barrio de tango, luna y misterio, calles lejanas, ¡cómo estarán! Viejos amigos que hoy ni recuerdo, ¡qué se habrán hecho, dónde estarán! Barrio de tango, qué fue de aquella, Juana, la rubia, que tanto amé. ¡Sabrá que sufro, pensando en ella, desde la tarde que la dejé! Barrio de tango, luna y misterio, ¡desde el recuerdo te vuelvo a ver! Un coro de silbidos allá en la esquina. El codillo llenando el almacén. Y el dramón de la pálida vecina que ya nunca salió a mirar el tren. Así evoco tus noches, barrio tango, con las chatas entrando al corralón y la luna chapaleando sobre el fango y a lo lejos la voz del bandoneón.

A bit of barrio, there in Pompeya,* falling asleep on the side of the embankment. A lantern swinging on the railway barrier and the train sowing its mysteries of farewell. Dogs barking at the moon. Love hidden behind a gate. A crescendo of croaking in the pond, and in the distance the voice of the bandoneón. Barrio of tango, moonlight and mystery, faraway streets, where can they be? Old friends I still remember now, What happened to them, where have they gone? Barrio of tango, what about “that” girl, Juana, the blonde I loved so? She must know that I’ve been suffering, thinking of her, since the evening I left her! Barrio of tango, moonlight and mystery, In memory I see you again! [A chorus of whistles out on the corner. A shop crowded with gamblers. And the melodrama of the pallid neighbor lady who never again went to meet the train.] That's how I remember your nights, tango barrio, with the wagons pulling into the timber yard, the moon splashing in the mud, and in the distance, the voice of the bandoneón.

* Pompeya: "Nueva Pompeya is a neighbourhood in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located in the South side, it has long been one of the city's proletarian districts steeped in the tradition of tango and one where many of the first tangos were written and performed.

"The legendary tango composer Homero Manzi set three very popular tangos, Sur, Barrio de tango, and Manoblanca, in Nueva Pompeya, describing a melancholy landscape (“Pompeya and beyond the flood”) that, even today, defines much of the district's physiognomy." (Wikipedia)

Subtitled tango #5: Patotero Sentimental (Sentimental Gangster)

"Now the years, they keep on passing, and no great love has filled my breast. In my life I had many, many girls...but never a woman's true love."

Patotero Sentimental (1922)
Words: Manuel Romero
Music: Manuel Jovés

Recorded 1941-06-06 by Carlos Di Sarli with vocal by Roberto Rufino.

Bilingual subtitles (Spanish above English) by Michael Krugman for Tango Decoder. Translation and subtitles Copyright © 2015 by Michael Krugman. All Rights Reserved.

Subtitled tango video no. 4: SUERTE LOCA (Crazy Luck)

Suerte loca (Crazy Luck)
Tango, 1924
Music: Anselmo Aieta
Lyrics: Francisco García Jiménez

Performed here by Orquesta Aníbal Troilo with vocal by Francisco Fiorentino (recorded 1941-06-15). English-language subtitles by Tango Decoder's resident sentient being, Michael Krugman. Audio is provided in reduced resolution for educational purposes only.

English translation and subtitles Copyright © 2015 by Michael Krugman. All Rights Reserved.

See also Tango Decoder's full lyrics of SUERTE LOCA (there's a third verse which is not sung here), full English-language translation, plus extensive notes and commentary.

Note: If you'd like to see more videos like this, please let us know, either here or on Facebook (Tango Decoder). The more you "Like" the more we "Do."

 

Subtitled tango video #3: SOY MUCHACHO DE LA GUARDIA (1942)

 

SOY MUCHACHO DE LA GUARDIA performed by Aníbal Troilo y su orquesta típica with vocal by Francisco Fiorentino (1943). English-language subtitles by Tango Decoder's Michael Krugman. Audio is provided in reduced resolution for educational purposes only. Translation and subtitles Copyright © 2015 by Michael Krugman. All rights Reserved.

Here's Tango Decoder's full text of the song in Spanish and English with explanatory notes and commentary. Our subtitled video is below.

Subtitled video #2: SI LA LLEGARAN A VER (If you should happen to see her)

 

Tango Decoder proudly presents our second in a series of English-language subtitled tango videos. Complete lyrics in Spanish and English with explanatory notes will appear in a future post.