A couple years back we pondered The Mystery of "August 24th." The mystery is this: bandleader and composer Pedro Laurenz and poet/lyricist Homero Manzi wrote a song called "The 24th of August." No mystery there. Laurenz recorded the song with his band. No mystery there, either. Bandleader Ricardo Malerba recorded the song, too. Sure, why not? And the date of the song's title, August 24th, is Ricardo Malerba's birthday. There's your mystery. Was the song written for/about him? Does it reference something that happened in his life? No one seems to know....
At the time I documented that puzzle, I didn't publish my English-language version of the song. Why? Simply an oversight, I suppose. I happened upon the text today, and of course, I just had to make a subtitled video, too! As usual, it is our hope that the video and our English-language text version will enhance your enjoyment of the song as you listen and as you dance!
Speaking of mysteries, both recorded versions of the song (Laurenz/Podestá and Malerba/Medina) omit Manzi's third verse, leaving the listener in the dark as to why the song's protagonist has been left loveless. That mystery is solved in the unsung third verse, offered below the video, in our face-to-face text version, for those who want to know.... Note that the bandoneón variation wasn't long enough to allow us to insert the unsung verses as subtitles, as is our custom.
The cover of "Radiolandia" (right) is from 1937, several years before the recording featured here. I apologize for the anachronism, but gosh, he was guapo, wasn't he? I just couldn't resist. Laurenz and Tyrone Power, separated at birth?
VEINTICUATRO DE AGOSTO ("August 24th") was one of the first two songs that Alberto Podestá recorded with Laurenz, on 16 April 1943. The other was NUNCA TUVO NOVIA. The ad shown in the video is more or less contemporaneous, as indicated by the presence of singer Alberto Podestá. He joined the Laurenz orchestra in March 1943 after stints with Di Sarli and Caló, and he stuck around until April 1944, when he rejoined Di Sarli's outfit. In May, he was still singing a few gigs with Laurenz under the assumed name "Alberto Ravera," probably with the intention of helping his former boss promote the last recording they made together, the aptly named MUCHACHOS... MI ÚLTIMO TANGO ("Boys... My Last Tango").
PS: Subtitled video #47b will be, you guessed it: Ricardo Malberba's recording of VEINTICUATRO DE AGOSTO.
VEINTICUATRO DE AGOSTO
("The 24th of August")Tango, 1943
Words: Homero Manzi
Music: Pedro Laurenz
| The twenty-fourth of August ... it's been a year now, that I don’t miss a single night at the café, and afterwards I go out with the guys, to dance, to drink, and I don’t know what... A year that I haven’t touched a tool, that I talk to my mother every month, that I wake up during the siesta hours, and go to bed with the factory whistle at 6 a.m.* With her love it was another life, Another life, more full of hope, Enjoying my work and being off The café, the corner, and the dance hall. With her love it was sweeter, The shirt ironed and starched, The jacket brushed on Sundays And a rose covering my heart. Twenty-fourth of August, and in one year How ones existence changes without love! Without any reason I raised my hand And later, I guiltily wept for her sake. My life isn’t the same. Everything’s sad. It’s so sad that I don’t even want to think about it, It’s been a year, a year since you left, But it’s no use, I think of you more than ever. |
Veinticuatro de agosto... Ya hace un año Que no falto ni una noche del café, Y que salgo después con los muchachos A bailar, a tomar y a no sé qué... Un año que no toco una herramienta Y que hablo con la vieja cada mes, Que despierto en las horas de la siesta Y me acuesto con el pito de las seis. Al lado de su amor era otra vida, Otra vida, más llena de ilusión, Placer de trabajar y estar cortado Del café, de la esquina, del salón. Al lado de su amor era más lindo La camisa planchada al almidón, El saco cepillado en los domingos Y una rosa tapando el corazón. Veinticuatro de agosto, y en un año ¡Cómo cambia la existencia sin querer! Sin ninguna razón alcé la mano Y después, por culpable la lloré. Mi vida no es la misma. Todo es triste Es tan triste que no quiero ni pensar, Hace un año, hace un año que te fuiste Pero inútil, te recuerdo mucho más. |
* factory whistle: pito. Many factories in Buenos Aires and other cities had steam whistles that sounded when production began, usually at 6 a.m., and at noon to announce the lunch hour. The song's protagonist "hasn't touched a tool" for the year since his woman left him, suggesting that he himself may have been a factory worker, an interesting detail that suggests a class context for the lyric. How he supports himself during this year of nostalgic lethargy is another question. Maybe that's the "I don't know what" that's named as one of his late-night activities? Let the reader decide.
Hmmm, "pito" is also a word for penis, maybe it has to do with the "no sé qué"? I didn't know the meaning of "factory whistle".
Posted by: Theresa | 08/25/2016 at 09:43 PM
Pito by itself just means "whistle," but given the reference to 6 a.m., I feel it pretty clearly refers to the factory steam-whistle, which used to blow at just that hour. The image is that his life is so disordered that he goes to sleep just when other people are going off to work.
Penis is indeed one meaning of whistle (RAE #12), but I think it would be a stretch to make that interpretation here. But I am open to suggestion!
Sometimes a whistle is just a whistle....
Posted by: Michael | 08/26/2016 at 03:52 PM