« Pre-CD-Release Milonga | Main | New CD to be released any day now! »
May 5, 2009
10 existential Tango lyrics that are way too nihilistic to be sung in English, even as a Country-Western song)
| 10) Cristal (Crystal) 1944 | |
|---|---|
| Mariano Mores and José Maria Contursi | |
|
Tengo el corazón hecho pedazos, rota mi emoción en este día... Noches y más noches sin descanso, y esta desazón del alma mía... |
I have broken my heart to pieces, My emotions are destroyed today… Nights and nights without ceasing, And this grief of my soul |
| 9) Garua (Drizzle) 1943 | |
| Enrique Cadicamo, music by Anibal Troilo | |
|
Garua, solo y triste por la acera Va este corazón transido, con trizteza de tapera Sinteiendo tu hielo, porque aquella con su olvido ¡Perdido! Como un duende que más la busca ¡Garua…! ¡Tristeza! ¡Hasta el cielo se ha puesto a llorar! |
Drizzle, alone and sad on the streets, This heart goes stricken with the grief of a shack I am feeling your sleet because of that distant woman with her forgetting Lost like a spirit that looks for her and calls out her name more and more Drizzle! Sadness! Even the sky begins to weep |
| 8) La ultima curda (The Last Drunken Bender) 1944 | |
| Alfredo Castillo, music by Anibal Troilo | |
|
Lastima, bandoneón, mi corazón tu ronca maldición maleva... ¡Ya sé, no me digás! ¡Tenés razón! La vida es una herida absurda, y es todo todo tan fugaz que es una curda, ¡nada más! mi confesión. |
My heart is hurting, bandoneon, from your evil curse. I know! Don’t tell me! You’re right! Life is an absurd wound and all of it is fleeting. My confession is a drunken binge, nothing more. |
| 7) El ultimo café (The Last Coffee) 1953 | |
| Stampone / Castillo | |
|
Lo mismo que el café, que el amor, que el olvido, que el vértigo final de un rencor sin porqué... Y allí, con tu impiedad, me vi morir de pie, medí tu vanidad y entonces comprendí mi soledad sin para qué... Llovía, y te ofrecí, el último café. |
Just like coffee, love, forgetfulness, and the final light-headedness of a resentment for no reason... And there, merciless, I saw myself die while standing up, I sized up your vanity and then I understood my solitude for waht it was... It was raining when I gave you the last cup of coffee |
| 6) Yira, yira (Walking Aimlessly) 1930 | |
| Carlos Gardel y Alfredo LePera | |
|
Veras que todo es mentira, veras que nada es amor que al mundo nada le importa, Yira...yira... Aunque te quiebre la vida, aunque te muerda un dolor, no esperes nunca una ayuda ni una mano...ni un favor. |
You'll see that everything is a lie You'll see that nothing is love That the world doesn't care Yira yira (Untranslatable: Almost like walking aimlessly, but also with the sense of "street walking", i.e. prostitution) Even though life will break you Even if a pain will bite you Don't ever expect a help Nor a helping hand or a favor |
| 5) Cancion desesprada (Song of Desperation) 1945 | |
| Enrique Discepolo | |
|
¿Dónde estaba Dios cuando te fuiste? ¿Dónde estaba el sol, que no te vió? ¿Cómo una mujer no entiende nunca que un hombre da todo dando su amor? ¡Soy una canción desesperada que grita su dolor y tu traición! |
Where was God when you left? Where was the sun that didn’t see you? How can a woman ever understand that when a man gives his love, he is giving everything away. I am a desparate song that screams of the pains you gave me and of your betrayal! |
| 4) Volver (To Return) 1935 | |
| Carlos Gardel and Alfredo LePera | |
|
Tengo miedo del encuentro con el pasado que vuelve a enfrentarse con mi vida... Tengo miedo de las noches que, pobladas de recuerdos, encadenan mi sonar... |
I’m afraid of an encounter with my past that returns to confront my life I’m afraid of the nights that are full of memories that shackle my dreams |
| 3) Che, Bandoneon | |
| Homero Manzi, music by Anibal Troilo | |
|
Puedo confesarte la verdad, copa a copa, pena a pena, tango a tango, embalado en la locura del alcohol y la amargura. |
I can confess the truth to you Cup after cup, sorrow afer sorrow, tango after tango, All wrapped up in bitterness and the madness of alcohol |
| 2) Naranjo en flor (Orange Blossoms) 1944 | |
| Virgilio and Homero Exposito | |
|
Primero hay que saber sufrir, despues amar, despues partir y al fin andar sin pensamiento... |
First you have to know how to suffer, Then to love then to leave, and finally how to walk away without thinking |
| 1) Los mareados (The Dizzy Ones) 1942 | |
| Enrique Cadicamo, music by Juan Carlos Cobian | |
|
Tres cosas lleva mi alma herida: Amor, Pesar, Dolor. |
3 things are borne by my wounded soul: love, regret, pain |
Posted by bbarnes at May 5, 2009 1:07 PM