Tango Time Machine — Tango Decoder

Magdalena: Malerbas beneficent blond

"She came bearing joy like the barrio had never known, filling everything with sunshine. Her name was Magdalena, and she was so good, so fair..."

Ever since my earliest exposure to tango music, I've been exceedingly fond of this song as recorded by Ricardo Malerba. I recently started to dance with a delightful lady named Magdalena, and dancing with her always makes me think of the song. So...this song's for you, Magdalena! 

Magdalena
Lyrics: Luis Caruso (Luis Rafael Caruso Servidio)
Music: Del Cisne

Recorded by: Ricardo Malerba with Orlando Medina (1943)
Magdalena at tango.info

Había una vez una rubia, Que era tan linda, tan linda Que no hay flor para igualarla. No hay quien dejó de quererla, Los que alcanzaron a verla No hacen más que recordarla. Vino trayendo alegrías Que el barrio desconocía Llenando todo de sol. Se llamaba Magdalena Y era tan buena Tan buena... Magdalena, Magdalena... Como se agranda esta pena, Al saber que nunca más He de volverme a mirar En tus ojos, Magdalena. No sé con qué frase Te llamó una estrella, Sé que te llevaron La mañana aquella. Entre flores blancas Rosas y azucenas... Magdalena, Magdalena Ya nunca más volverás.

There once was a blond, who was so sweet, so fine that there is no flower to equal her. No one could help but love her and those who saw her once couldn’t help but remember her. She came bearing joy like the barrio had never known, filling everything with sunshine. Her name was Magdalena, and she was so good, so fair... Magdalena, Magdalena... how this sorrow grows, knowing that never again will I be able to look into your eyes, Magdalena. I don’t know with what phrase destiny* called you; I know that they took you away on that morning. Among white flowers, roses and lilies.... Magdalena, Magdalena, Now you’ll never return.

NOTE: *destiny: estrella, star or destiny.

A Discepolo word-cloud

Am I getting a little too obsessed with the lyrics of Enrique Santos Discépolo, author of CAMBALACHE, INFAMIA, CONDENA, ESTA NOCHE ME EMBORRACHO, and thirty-four others? Yes! There, I've admitted it. And here's one result:

From here, deep down in the pit of my obsession, I've made a Discépolo "word-cloud." [Click on the image above to enlarge.] For those who don't know, a word cloud is a graphical representation of the most frequently used words in a text. The words appear larger or smaller depending on how frequently they appear. The more frequent, the bigger a word appears.

The text for this word-cloud is all forty lyrics that Discepolín wrote. It shows the top one hundred words that appear in Discépolo's oevre, plus his name. (For your reference, Discépolo's name appeared forty times, once for each song. So any word that's bigger than his name appeared more than forty times, and v.v.) Okay, now you see how profound is my obsession....

I was going to write a commentary on my Discépolo word-cloud, and I may still do that. But I think the whole point of a word-cloud is that it speaks for itself in graphic language. So, for the time being, I'm  sharing it with you, dear reader, as is. Have a look, see what you make of it, and let's discuss.

One minor note: When you make a word-cloud (I did mine in Wordle) you have the option of filtering out frequently used words (like el, la, con, su, tu, etc.) in whatever language you are working with. I've done that here. Without that option, the most frequently used word in all of Discépolo's lyrics is "que" (that), which appears 372 times, far more than runners-up de (281), y (221), or la (207). I find that interesting, because it calls attention to ESD's habit of using the conjunction que as a connecting link among a series of parallel, dependent clauses. It's one of the things that gives his lyrics their uniquely incantatory, rant-like quality. Here's an example, from ESTA NOCHE ME EMBORRACHO [my translation]:

And to think that ten years ago, I was crazy about her! That I stooped to betrayal for her beauty!...That this person who is now a total wreck was the sweet infatuation/indiscretion where I lost my dignity; that, crazy for her beauty, I stole food from my own mother, I became heartless, a freeloader; that I lost all my friends; that I lived by cheating others; that she had me on my knees; when she left me.... (It goes on like that, que...; que...; que....) 

I'm sure I'll want to write more about this another time. Meanwhile, I'd love to hear your comments, either here or on Facebook. 

Ars long, vita brevis, tango siempre!

Another layout of the same cloud, with a few mods [click to enlarge]:

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Igual que un bandoneón": Tango's heart of darkness

"That’s why, Heart, because of her, the tone of your voice grows more sorrowful, it moans from deep inside, just like a bandoneón."

Igual que un bandoneón (Just like a bandoneón) 1944 
Letra : Juan Bautista A. Gatti
Música : José Raúl Enrique Iglesias 

Song data at tango.info

Igual que un bandoneón
Sollozas corazón,
Igual que un bandoneón
Estás penando...
Y tus notas van fraseando
El recuerdo de su amor.

Just like a bandoneón
you’re sobbing, Heart.
Just like a bandoneón
you are suffering....
and your notes give voice to
the memory of your love affair.

A ella me dije adios
Por eso corazón,
Por ella se hace
Más tristón tu acento,
Que gime desde adentro
Igual que un bandoneón.

I told her goodbye.
That’s why, Heart, because of her,
the tone of your voice
grows more sorrowful,
it moans from deep inside,
just like a bandoneón.

Era como canción de un tango
Todo aquel amor de tu vida,
Y hoy lloras, corazón
Igual que un bandoneón
La triste voz, enronquecida.

All that passion in your life
was like a tango song,
and today you’re crying, Heart,
just like a bandoneón
with its sad, husky voice.

Nunca desde el adiós la viste
Pobre mi corazón viejo y triste,
Tu pena es el dolor
Que mueve su gemir
Igual que un bandoneón.

Since that day I’ve never seen her,
poor Heart, old and sad.
Your sorrow is the pain
that sets it to moaning* 
just like a bandoneón.

 

"Uno": In Discepolo's Thorny Thrall

"If only I could love again without fear, then your eyes that cry out your affection, I might silence with my kisses...."—Uno

There are several worthy English-language versions of this great 1943 lyric by Enrique Santos Discépolo, and each One of them reveals something Unique, which is the individual translator's heartfelt response to the lyrics as they ring out across the decades. But this and other songs by Discepolo are so rich in signification, in poetic depth, that there's plenty of room for further attempts to decode them. As One who particularly appreciates Discépolo's lyrics, I felt compelled to take a closer look at this song, and to discover its message for myself. So here's Tango Decoder's very personal and of course Unique version of Enrique Discépolo's UNO (One).

Song data at tango.info 
"Uno" at Tango Translations Database 

Uno (One) 1943
Lyrics: Enrique Santos Discépolo
Music: Mariano Mores

One seeks, full of hope, 
the path to his desires 
that was promised by dreams. 
He knows that the struggle is long 
and cruel, but he struggles and bleeds 
because his faith demands it. 
One drags himself through thorns 
and, in his eagerness to give his love, 
he suffers and is torn to shreds 
until at last he understands 
that One has been left without a heart... 
The penalty one pays 
for a kiss that never comes 
and an unfaithful love... 
...Empty now from loving and from bemoaning
so much betrayal... 

If only, like yesterday, I had the heart, 
(the heart I gave!) 
If only I could love again without fear, 
then your eyes 
that cry out your affection 
I might silence with my kisses... 
Without thinking they were like 
those other eyes, the wicked ones, 
the ones that ruined my life... 
If I only had the heart, 
(the one I lost...!) 
If I could forget her who broke it yesterday, 
and...if I had the strength to love you, 
I would cling to the dream of you 
to beg for your love. 

But God suited you to my destiny without thinking
that it’s already very late and I won’t know how to love you... 
Let me weep like one who suffers in life 
the torture of begging for his own death. 
Pure as you are, you might have saved my hope with your love... 
One is so alone in one’s pain... 
One is so blind in one’s sorrow... 
But a cruel coldness that’s worse than hate 
—the soul’s deadlock—dreadful tomb of my love, 
Forever cursed, it robbed me...of all hope! 

Uno busca lleno de esperanzas
el camino que los sueños
prometieron a sus ansias.
Sabe que la lucha es cruel
y es mucha, pero lucha y se desangra
por la fe que lo empecina.
Uno va arrastrándose entre espinas
y en su afán de dar su amor,
sufre y se destroza hasta entender
que uno se ha quedao sin corazón.
Precio de castigo que uno entrega,
por un beso que no llega
y un amor que lo engañó....
¡Vacío ya de amar y de llorar
tanta traición! 

Si yo tuviera el corazón,
(El corazón que di...!)
Si yo pudiera como ayer
querer sin presentir...
Es posible que a tus ojos
que me gritan tu cariño
los cerrara con mis besos.....
Sin pensar que eran como esos
otros ojos, los perversos,
los que hundieron mi vivir....
Si yo tuviera el corazón,
(El mismo que perdí...!)
Si olvidara a la que ayer
lo destrozó y... pudiera amarte,
me abrazaría a tu ilusión
para llorar tu amor.

Pero, Dios, te trajo a mi destino sin pensar
que ya es muy tarde y no sabré cómo quererte…
Déjame que llore como aquel que sufre
en vida la tortura de llorar su propia muerte…
Pura como sos, habrías salvado mi esperanza con tu amor…
Uno está tan solo en su dolor… Uno está tan ciego en su penar….
Pero un frío cruel que es peor que el odio
—punto muerto de las almas—tumba horrenda de mi amor,
¡maldijo para siempre y me robó… toda ilusión!…

Donde Estas Corazon: Gone with the wind?

"I've lost your voice, your kisses, and your laughter, and now oblivion, tenacious, deaf and blind, has cast the pages of our love into the fire, and a cruel wind scatters the ashes." 

Note: There are two different songs that share the title Donde Estás Corazón. The song recorded by Canaro and Rodio is by Luís Martinez Serarrano y Agosto Berto. The lyric given below belongs to a different song, this one by Francisco García Jiménez and María Isolina Godard. It was recorded by Francisco Lomuto with Charlo and by Roberto Firpo with Teófilo Ibañez, both in 1928. Two different songs, two different melodies, two different lyrics. 

¿Donde estas corazón? (a.k.a. Tu dulce nombre)
(Where are you, my love? a.k.a.Your sweet name)

Lyrics: Francisco García Jiménez
Music : María Isolina Godard
Recorded 1928 by Francisco Lomuto with Charlo and Roberto Firpo with Teófilo Ibañez

Perdí tu voz, tus besos, tu sonrisa

Y ya el tenaz olvido, sordo y ciego, 

De aquel amor, las páginas al fuego

Y un viento cruel esparce las cenizas. 

Tu imagen es, apenas una sombra

Que ya se va perdiendo en el ocaso,

No queda más que el rastro de tu paso 

un nombre fiel, un nombre evocador.

I've lost your voice, your kisses, and your laughter,
and now oblivion, tenacious, deaf and blind,
has cast the pages of that love into the fire
and the cruel wind scatters the ashes.
Your image is barely a shadow,
that’s already disappearing in the dusk;
nothing remains but a trace of your passing:
a faithful name, a name that haunts me still.* 



Tú ya no estás y herido de dolor

No sé rezar, tu nombre en mi oración,

No puedo más y esa agua de tu (mi) ser

Es paz a mi ansiedad y un pozo (soplo) alentador.

Tu nombre fiel, me viene a recordar

Que ya no estás, que todo se acabó,

Y el eco es, de un canto arrullador

De un lánguido pesar, de un llanto y un adiós.

Now you’re gone and wounded by my pain,
I can barely speak your name in my prayers,
even though that essence of your being
would be a balm to my anguish and a breath of solace.*
Your faithful name makes me remember
that now you’re gone, that it's all over,
and the echo is that of a lulling song,
faint remorse, a flood of tears, and a farewell.


Al fuego di, las cosas que eran tuyas,

Al fuego das, los versos que te he dado,

Inútil es que olvides o me huyas

Yo me quedé con algo del pasado.

Cenizas son, mi dicha y tu recuerdo,

Mas todo no, me queda alguna cosa,

Debajo está, cual chispa milagrosa

Gritando aún, tu nombre evocador.

Into the fire I cast everything that was yours.
Into the fire you cast the poems I gave you.
It’s useless to try to forget me or run away,
I’m still holding onto a little bit of the past.
My happiness and your keepsakes are ashes,
but not all, I retain one thing.
Lying underneath it all, is that miraculous spark
that cries out, still, your name that haunts me still.

*breath of good cheer: The printed lyrics say “un pozo alentador,” a fount or well of solace; in Lomuto’s recording Charlo sings “un soplo alentador,” a breath of solace. Same goes for Firpo with Ibañez.

*fiel: bearing a true likeness, reliable in its evocativeness, devoted, or literally, faithful.

Donde Estás Corazón: Gone with the wind?

"I've lost your voice, your kisses, and your laughter, and now oblivion, tenacious, deaf and blind, has cast the pages of our love into the fire, and a cruel wind scatters the ashes." 

Note: There are two different songs that share the title Donde Estás Corazón. The song recorded by Canaro and Rodio is by Luís Martinez Serarrano y Agosto Berto. The lyric given below belongs to a different song, this one by Francisco García Jiménez and María Isolina Godard. It was recorded by Francisco Lomuto with Charlo and by Roberto Firpo with Teófilo Ibañez, both in 1928. Two different songs, two different melodies, two different lyrics. 

¿Donde estas corazón? (a.k.a. Tu dulce nombre)
(Where are you, my love? a.k.a.Your sweet name)

Lyrics: Francisco García Jiménez
Music : María Isolina Godard
Recorded 1928 by Francisco Lomuto with Charlo and Roberto Firpo with Teófilo Ibañez

Perdí tu voz, tus besos, tu sonrisa

Y ya el tenaz olvido, sordo y ciego, 

De aquel amor, las páginas al fuego

Y un viento cruel esparce las cenizas. 

Tu imagen es, apenas una sombra

Que ya se va perdiendo en el ocaso,

No queda más que el rastro de tu paso 

un nombre fiel, un nombre evocador.

I've lost your voice, your kisses, and your laughter,
and now oblivion, tenacious, deaf and blind,
has cast the pages of that love into the fire
and the cruel wind scatters the ashes.
Your image is barely a shadow,
that’s already disappearing in the dusk;
nothing remains but a trace of your passing:
a faithful name, a name that haunts me still.* 



Tú ya no estás y herido de dolor

No sé rezar, tu nombre en mi oración,

No puedo más y esa agua de tu (mi) ser

Es paz a mi ansiedad y un pozo (soplo) alentador.

Tu nombre fiel, me viene a recordar

Que ya no estás, que todo se acabó,

Y el eco es, de un canto arrullador

De un lánguido pesar, de un llanto y un adiós.

Now you’re gone and wounded by my pain,
I can barely speak your name in my prayers,
even though that essence of your being
would be a balm to my anguish and a breath of solace.*
Your faithful name makes me remember
that now you’re gone, that it's all over,
and the echo is that of a lulling song,
faint remorse, a flood of tears, and a farewell.


Al fuego di, las cosas que eran tuyas,

Al fuego das, los versos que te he dado,

Inútil es que olvides o me huyas

Yo me quedé con algo del pasado.

Cenizas son, mi dicha y tu recuerdo,

Mas todo no, me queda alguna cosa,

Debajo está, cual chispa milagrosa

Gritando aún, tu nombre evocador.

Into the fire I cast everything that was yours.
Into the fire you cast the poems I gave you.
It’s useless to try to forget me or run away,
I’m still holding onto a little bit of the past.
My happiness and your keepsakes are ashes,
but not all, I retain one thing.
Lying underneath it all, is that miraculous spark
that cries out, still, your name that haunts me still.

*breath of good cheer: The printed lyrics say “un pozo alentador,” a fount or well of solace; in Lomuto’s recording Charlo sings “un soplo alentador,” a breath of solace. Same goes for Firpo with Ibañez.

*fiel: bearing a true likeness, reliable in its evocativeness, devoted, or literally, faithful.

Una vez: Maybe it's all in your head

Una Vez (Once) 
Letra : Lito Bayardo (Manuel Juan García Ferrari)
Música : Carlos Marcucci

Moría en los rayos de sol
la niebla de un día sin luz.
Y luego en la tarde serena
huyeron mi angustia y mi pena

The fog of a dark day
Died in the rays of the sun
And then in the calm evening
My anguish and my sorrows fled.

Soñaba aquella tarde con tus besos
Sentíame feliz con tu regreso.
Y al verte de nuevo ante mí
Cantaba en mis sueños así:
Una vez, sólo te vi una vez
Y te amé, sólo bastó una vez.
Hoy no sé si me faltará tu cariño
¡Ay de mí, que estoy solo sin ti!

I dreamed that evening of your kisses
I felt happy that you’d returned.
And on seeing you before me once again 
I sang like this in my dreams:
“One time, I saw you only one time,
and I loved you, one time was enough.
Now I don’t know if I’ll ever get enough of your affection
Woe is me! How alone I am without you!”

Sólo tú me sabes comprender
Siempre tú, para poder vencer.
Nunca más, yo te lo juro vida mía
Nunca más podré vivir sin ti.

Only you can understand me, 
Always you, for the strength to go on.
Never again, I swear to you, love of my life,
Never again will I be able to live without you.

Recorded by Orquesta Típica Víctor (Dir.: Mario Maurano) con la voz de Ortega Del Cerro. (sello RCA, 09-08-1943)

Cero a cero: Match score 0-0, demands desperate tango

When the British were in Argentina building the railways that would enable beef to be raised in the interior and then transported to Buenos Aires for export, they also brought with them football, Rugby, polo and cricket. Tango dances were organised to raise funds to build football stadia. While there are many tangos referencing football, none name-check as many legendary players or reference as many of the top football teams of the 1930s as “Cero a Cero."

[Conception, translation, research and notes by Paul Bottomer and Tango Decoder. Illustration by Paul Bottomer. Thanks, Paul! It's been grand!]

Cero a Cero (Nil Nil)
Music: Roberto Firpo
Lyrics: Venancio Clauso
Artist: Orquesta Roberto Firpo, singer Carlos A. Varela
Recorded: 22 March 1935
Label: Buenos Aires Odeon 3079 8033

Che Victoria, te pido perdón
si todavía el “escore” no abrí,
hice “fau", y aunque no hubo intención
si querés me pateás el “friquic”.

Hey, Victoria¹, please forgive me
If there hasn’t been any goals yet
I committed a foul, and though it was unintentional,
if you want, you can have the free kick (against me).

Pero juro que hablé con tu viejo,
que de entrada nomás me marcó,
¡y es un Bossio! De cerca y de lejos
siempre al corner mis tiros sacó.

But I swear I had a talk with your guy,
Who, right from the start, was marking² just me,
and he’s a Bossio!³ From near and far, my shots (at goal)
only ever ended up as a corner.⁴

¿De qué sirve gastarse en gambetas
si tu viejo es como una paréd?
¡Qué Corazzo querida pebeta!
¡No lo burla ni Don Bernabé!

What’s the use of dribbling⁵
if your guy’s like a wall?
What a Corazzo⁶, dear girl!⁷
And don’t tease us about it, Don Bernabé!⁸

Cuantas veces en rápido “rush”
como Cherro me quise filtrar,
y él, canchero y veloz como luz
se adelanta y me deja en “ofsai”.

How many times in an attack
Did I want to get past the defence, like Cherro⁹,
And he, skillful and quick as lightning,
Moves up and leaves me offside.¹⁰

¡Che Victoria, no sé ya qué hacer,
si hasta con Lauri y con viento a favor
estoy viendo que voy a perder
este espléndido lance de amor!

Hey, Victoria, I don’t know what to do now,
if even with Lauri¹¹ and a favourable wind
I see that I’m going to lose
this splendid love affair!¹²

Pero yo te aseguro—aunque es feo—
que hasta voy a forzar un penal...
Yo pa’ casa me llevo el trofeo
aunque silben los de la oficial...

But I assure you – and although it’s not pretty –
That even if I have to take a dive for a penalty¹³…
I’ll take home that trophy
Though the referee may blow his whistle…

He jurado que en esta porfía
me impondré como cuadra a un campeón
y tu mano al final “Serrá mía”
que no en vano me llaman “Ciclón”.

I’ve sworn that in this battle
I’ll prevail as befits a champion
and in the end, your hand will be mine¹⁴
so that not for nothing do they call me “Cyclone.”¹⁵

Yo de Massa, no envidio el tapón...
Ni el bordao primoroso ‘e Pichín
hoy me corto al estilo Naón,
¡y esta noche conquisto el Fortín!...

I’m a Massa¹⁶ lad, I’m not bothered about Pichín’s¹⁷ 
studded boots¹⁸ and "dainty embroidery."¹⁹
Today, I’m getting my hair cut like Naón,²⁰
And tonight I conquer el Fortín!²¹

NOTES:

1. Victoria – home of Club Atlético Tigre, also a woman’s name.
2. Marking – the practice of assigning one, or more, defenders to a strong opposing player, as opposed to zone defence.
3. Angel Bossio – goalkeeper of River Plate, known as ‘The Elastic Wonder’
4. ended up as a corner - When the goalkeeper deflects a shot at goal, if the ball goes out of play as a result, then a corner kick is awarded to the attacking team.
5. Dribbling – running with the ball using skillful feints and changes of direction to evade opposing defenders.
6. Corazzo – Juan Carlos Corazzo, midfielder, Racing Club 1931-32 and Independiente in 1932-37.
7. Dear girl - The narrator addresses the opposing team as if it were a female.
8. Bernabé Ferreyra – played centre-forward for Tigre in the 1931 season and for River Plate 1932-39. Nicknamed El Mortero de Rufino, the Mortar from Rufino, for the explosive power of his kicks and La Fiera, the Beast, for his competitive spirit. One of the highest scoring players of the 1930s, his transfer fee of 35,000 pesos stood as an Argentine record for twenty years. Ferreyra was also a good tango dancer and a close friend of Aníbal Troilo, who idolized him.
9. Roberto Cherro – nicknamed ‘Golden Head’ because of his capacity to head the ball. The top goal scorer of Boca Juniors until 2010, when his record was beaten by Martin Palermo.
10. Offside - a rule governing the number of defenders that must be between the recipient of a pass and the goal. If a defender tactically moves forward before an attacker receives the ball, then the attack fails under the ‘offside’ rule.
11. Miguel Angel Lauri – nicknamed “The Golden Arrow”. Played forward for Estudiantes de la Plata 1928-36.
12. Lance de amor – love affair.  
13. Take a dive for a penalty - To cheat by diving to the ground as if fouled. If the referee believes a foul is committed in the penalty area, a penalty kick, (an easier, set piece, static shot from a predefined spot by one attacker against only the goalkeeper), will be awarded to the fouled team. These more often than not result in a goal.
14. The phrase ‘will be mine’ (será mía) is written “Serrá mía”. The punctuation and unusual spelling suggests a play on words. It may be a reference to Silvio J. Serra, president of the Asociación De Football Amateurs Y Profesionales during the 1932 and '33 seasons. The meaning is unclear.
15. ‘El Ciclón’ - Cyclone was one of the nicknames of San Lorenzo de Almagro football club. Their archrival was a club call Club Atlético Huracán (Hurricane) and a cyclone is stronger than a hurricane. However, the lyric may be a veiled reference to the famous 1931 match between San Lorenzo de Almagro (El Ciclón) and Tigre (of Victoria) in which Tigre’s Bernabé Ferreyra (see 8) scored three goals in the final 15 minutes of the game, turning a 2-0 defeat into a 3-2 victory.
16. Lorenzo Massa, a catholic priest who was instrumental in the creation of San Lorenzo de Almagro football club in the poor Almagro district of Buenos Aires, 1908, to keep boys off the street and bring them closer to religion. The team was to become one of the Five Great Teams (Los Cinco Grandes) of Buenos Aires.
17. ‘el tapón’ – studded football boots 
18. Pichín – “Shorty." Vicente "Pichín" del Giudice played on the left wing for Racing Club and the national team in the early 1930s. 
19. ‘bordao primoroso’ – lit. fine embroidery. ‘strip’ – the football club’s team shirt or jersey. This is a facetious reference to Pichín's slim build, which meant that the standard team shirt was always too big for him. 
20. Naón – Arturo Naón played forward for Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata 1927-33 and Tigre 1934-37. 
21. Fortín – nickname of Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield and its stadium.

Se te nota en los ojos, corazon: Blue tanda ala Sirk?

"...love of my life, I ask you a favor: 
Tell me one time, do you love me or not?" 

One of my guilty pleasures is late De Angelis songs like this, with Oscar Larocca at the microphone. To me, each one is like an ultra-condensed version of one of those provocative Douglas Sirk melodramas that Hollywood offered in the same era: Written on the Wind, All That Heaven Allows, Imitation of Life (Photo, right).

I'd love to play this song in a tanda with Cafe Para Dos, Volvamos a Empezar, and Prohibo at our local milonga; I'd love to dance to that tanda with my favorite partner; and I'd love to whisper the lyrics in her ear as we dance. But as the least senior DJ in our community, anyone of those things would get me in hot water, or boiling oil, or something nasty, and we don't want that, do we? So I make nice, and stick to safer "Ds"—Di Sarli, D'Arienzo, D'Agostino, Donato, even Demare)—and everyone's happy. But when I'm singing in the shower, watch out! "Se te not en tus ojos, corazón, que me estás mintiendo!"

Se Te Nota En Los Ojos Corazón (1956)
(I can see it in your eyes, love)
Music/Lyrics: Felix Villa
Singer: Oscar Larocca

By this cross I swear to you, my love,
That my love is pure and true like God,
That your silence is torture for me,
That I always offer you a heaven of tenderness.
But I can't stand this bitterness,
It is torturing me, killing me without pity.
Therefore, love of my life, I ask you a favor:
Tell me one time, do you love me or not?

I can see it in your eyes, my love,
That you're lying to me.
I can see it in your eyes, my love,
That you still love me.
I'm waiting to hear from your lips, "I love you,"
Can't you see that your silence hurts?
I can see it in your eyes, my love,
That you can't hold out much longer.

[Spoken] What do I have to do to get you to speak to me one time?
Don't you see that my love is dying for no reason?
Because if you say something to me, anything,
My heart will blossom and sing with happiness.

***

Por esta cruz, yo te lo juro corazón
que mi cariño es puro y cierto como Dios,
que tu silencio es un castigo para mí,
que siempre te ofrecí un cielo de ternura.
Pero no puedo soportar esta amargura
que me tortura y me mata sin piedad
Por eso, vida, yo te pido por favor
me digas de una vez, ¿me quieres si o no?

Se te nota en los ojos, corazón,
que me estás mintiendo.
Se te nota en los ojos, corazón,
que me estás queriendo.
Espero de tus labios un "te quiero",
¿No ves que tu silencio me hace mal?
Se te nota en los ojos, corazón,
que no puedes mas.

¿Que debo hacer para que me hables de una vez?
¿No ves que mi amor se esta muriendo sin razón?
Porque si tu me dices algo, nada más,
florece el corazón y canta de alegría.

Se te nota en los ojos...

Si volviera Jesus: If Jesus came back...

“If you were to come back, Jesus, you’d have to bear your cross all over again....”

Si volviera Jesús (If Jesus came back) 
Tango
1935
Music: Joaquín Mora
Lyric: Dante A. Linyera
Recording: Miguel Caló y su Orquesta Típica; canta Carlos Dante.

Si Volviera Jesus - Caló/Dante - '35

It’s been twenty centuries, pale Jesus,
That you’ve been staring dully at the world, nailed to your cross;
Twenty centuries that on your sorrowful planet
Those crazy humans have been playing the game of war.
Selfishness drenches you with the blood of hatred and hunger,
Pilate and the Pharisees are still in charge
And, if you returned in this century,
Judas would sell you out, just like last time.

If you were to come back, Jesus,
They’d be forced to crucify you
all over again.
The woman deceives
And the man rages,
And there’s neither light nor bread
For the wretched of the earth,
Who still believe, God bless them,
That goodness exists...
If you were to come back, Jesus,
You’d have to bear your cross all over again.

Injustice prevails. Where is all that love
You preached, Sweet Savior?
Mary Magdalene walks the streets,
Pock-marked, starving...The passions rule...
And still it’s business as usual.
The innocent suffers, no one pays any attention...
How right you were! Terrifyingly right!
Oh, Jesus, your dominion was not over this earth!

Veinte siglos hace, pálido Jesús,
que miras al mundo clavado en tu cruz;
veinte siglos hace que en tu triste tierra
los locos mortales juegan a la guerra.
Sangre de odio y hambre vierte el egoísmo,
Caifás y Pilato gobiernan lo mismo
Y, si en este siglo de nuevo volvieras,
lo mismo que entonces Judas te vendiera.

Si volviera Jesús,
otra vez en la cruz
lo harían torturar.
La mujer engaña
y el hombre se ensaña,
y no hay sol ni pan
para el pobrecito
que aún cree, bendito,
que existe bondad...
Si volvieras, Jesús,
otra vez con tu cruz
tendrías que cargar.

La injusticia impera. ¿Dónde está el amor
que tú predicaste, dulce Redentor?
Magdalena vaga por los callejones
apedreada, hambrienta... Mandan las pasiones...
Ya todo se compra y todo se vende.
La inocencia sufre, nadie la comprende...
¡Qué razón tenías! ¡Qué razón que aterra!
¡Oh, Jesús, tu reino no era de la tierra!