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Qué bien te queda: How well it suits you!

Qué bien te queda (Cómo has cambiado)
Tango 1944
Música: Vicente Salerno
Letra: Juan Mazaroni

Hermano, te ha vencido el modernismo,

tu figura de ayer también cambió,

sólo queda en tus compases melodiosos

el pasado corazón a corazón.


Ya te alejaste del suburbio que te viera

bajo la luz palpitante de un farol,

que perfilaba tu figura caprichosa

bailando a los acordes, de un organito al son.

Qué bien te queda, cómo has cambiado,

y en este marco de distinción,

vas enredando los corazones

entre lamentos de un bandoneón.

Los rascacielos llenos de asombro

vistiendo smoking, te ven llegar.

Qué bien te queda, tango argentino,

canción del alma, canto inmortal...

Brother, modernism has overcome you,
your figure of yesteryear changed, too,
all that’s left in your melodious rhythm
is the past, heart to heart.

Now you've moved away from the suburb that saw you
under the flickering light of a streetlamp
that profiled your fanciful form,
dancing in time to the chords of an organito.*



How well it suits you, how you’ve changed,
and in this elegant setting,
you’re going around entangling hearts
in the laments of a bandoneón.



The astonished skyscrapers
see you arrive, dressed in a tux.
How well it suits you, Argentine tango,
song of the soul, song immortal.

* organito: A portable barrel-organ that played an important role in the early diffusion of tango. near the turn of the 20th century, the organito carried the early tango of the poor, outlying areas of the city to the streets of the city center. See also "The organito," Cotorrita de la suerte and El cocherito.







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