ORO Y PLATA

Gold and silver (1943)

LYRICS by: Homero Manzi

MUSIC by: Charlo

TRANSLATION by: Alberto Paz

Last updated on: 6/10/12

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Sing along with CHARLO

Homero Manzi epic poem about a love triangle among people of color reflects on an imaginary time in the mid eighteen fifties, a period from where there is no evidence left about the lives and mores of the black population. The term “pardo” is used to define a mulatto as opposed to the generic designing of “black” to the people of color population. The use of the drum metaphor is in reference to the mythical camdombe rhythm usually associated with early slave populations in colonial Buenos Aires.

CASTELLANO

ENGLISH

Un broche de aguamarina y una esterlina te regaló. Tu negro, que era muy pobre, no tuvo un cobre para el amor. Un pardo de ropa fina para tu ruina te convenció. Yo digo que una mulata, por oro y plata se enamoró. ¡Ay! Late que late, y el cuero del parche bate con manos de chocolate, el negro que la perdió; rueda que rueda, lo mismo que una moneda, con ropas de tul y seda, la negra que le mintió. Todos los cueros están doblando, Pero sus ojos están llorando, que un pardo de cuello duro fumando un puro se la llevó. ¡Ay! Siga que siga, no sufras ni la maldigas que el cielo también castiga la culpa de la ambición. La manos en la tambora mientras tu pena, llora que llora. Yo digo que es un tesoro de plata y oro tu corazón. Tu corazón. Tu corazón. Un broche y una esterlina fueron la ruina de una pasión. Un pardo con diez monedas forró de seda tu corazón. La plata siempre es la plata que hiere y mata sin compasión, yo digo que una mulata por oro y plata se enamoró… Ay…

An aquamarine brooch and sterling he gave you. Your black man, who was very poor, didn’t have a penny to buy love. A well dressed mulatto man convinced you, for your downfall. I say that a mulatto woman, for gold and silver fell in love. Oh! Beats and beats, the drumhead beats with chocolate hands, the black man who lost her; rolls and rolls, same as a coin, with robes of tulle and silk, the black woman who lied to him. All the drum leathers are tolling, But his eyes are crying, a starched collar mulatto smoking a cigar took her with him. Oh! Follow and follow, don’t suffer nor curse her that heaven also punishes the guilt of ambition. The hands on the drum while your sorrow, crying crying. I say it is a treasure of silver and gold your heart. Your heart. Your heart. A clasp and a sterling were the ruin of a passion. A mulatto with ten coins silk lined her heart. Silver is always the silver that wounds and kills without mercy, I say that a mulatto girl for gold and silver fell in love… Oh!

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Copyright (c) Planet Tango 1998-2012 All Rights Reserved

NINGUNA

None (1942)

LYRICS by: Homero Manzi

MUSIC by: Raúl Fernández Siro

TRANSLATION by: Alberto Paz

Last updated on: 2/9/12

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Sing along with HECTOR PACHECO with OSVALDO FRESEDO

Dedicated to all the girls I loved

CASTELLANO

ENGLISH

Esta puerta se abrió para tu paso. Este piano tembló con tu canción. Esta mesa, este espejo y estos cuadros guardan ecos del eco de tu voz. Es tan triste vivir entre recuerdos… Cansa tanto escuchar ese rumor de la lluvia sutil que llora el tiempo sobre aquello que quiso el corazón. No habrá ninguna igual, no habrá ninguna, ninguna con tu piel ni con tu voz. Tu piel, magnolia que mojó la luna. Tu voz, murmullo que entibió el amor. No habrá ninguna igual, todas murieron en el momento que dijiste adiós. Cuando quiero alejarme del pasado, es inútil… me dice el corazón. Ese piano, esa mesa y esos cuadros guardan ecos del eco de tu voz. En un álbum azul están los versos que tu ausencia cubrió de soledad. Es la triste ceniza del recuerdo nada más que ceniza, nada más…

This door was opened for you. This piano trembled with your song. This table, this mirror and these pictures keep echoes of the echo of your voice. It’s so sad to live among memories … It’s tiresome to hear the murmur of the subtle rain crying time about what the heart wanted. There will be no equal, there will be none, none with your skin or your voice. Your skin, magnolia wet by the moon. Your voice, whisper that warmed the love. There will be no equal, they all died the instant you said goodbye. When I want to get away from the past, is useless … the heart tells me. That piano, that table and those pictures keep echoes of the echo of your voice. In a blue album are the verses that your absence covered with loneliness. It’s the sad ash of remembrance nothing more than ash, nothing more …

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BARRIO DE TANGO

Neighborhood of tango (1942)

LYRICS by: Homero Manzi

MUSIC by: Anibal Troilo

TRANSLATION by: Alberto Paz

Last updated on: 12/30/11

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Sing along with ROBERTO GOYENECHE with ORQUESTA ANIBAL TROILO

CASTELLANO

ENGLISH

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. 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!

A piece of the neighborhood, back in Pompeya asleep on the side of the embankment. A lantern swinging in the barrier and the mystery of goodbye that seeds the train . Dogs barking at the moon. Love hiding in a doorway. And stepping frogs in the pond And at the distance the voice of the bandoneon. Neighborhood of tango, moon and mystery distant streets, how they will be! Old friends I don’t even remember now, Whatever happened to them, where they will be! Neighborhood of tango, what happened to that one , Juana, the blonde, I loved so much. Will she know that I suffer, thinking of her, since the afternoon I left her! Neighborhood of tango, moon and mystery From the memory I see you again! A chorus of whistles back in the corner. The card game filling the store. And the melodrama of the pale neighbor that she never came out to watch the train. So I recall your nights, neighborhood tango, with the carts entering the warehouse and the moon wallowing in the mud and at the distance the voice of the bandoneon. Neighborhood of tango, moon and mystery distant streets, how they will be! Old friends I don’t even remember now, Whatever happened to them, where they will be! Neighborhood of tango, what happened to that one , Juana, the blonde, I loved so much. Will she know that I suffer, thinking of her, since the afternoon I left her! Neighborhood of tango, moon and mystery From the memory I see you again!

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Copyright (c) Planet Tango 1998-2011 All Rights Reserved

DESDE EL ALMA
From the soul (1911)
LYRICS by: Homero Manzi and Piuma Velez (1948)	MUSIC by: Rosita Melo
TRANSLATION by: Walter Kane
Last updated on: 8/1/11
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Sing along with NELLY OMAR with FRANCISCO CANARO Listen to a classic instrumental version by OSVALDO PUGLIESE
The making of Desde El Alma by Alberto Paz Rosita Melo was born in Uruguay in 1897 but she lived in Argentina since age 2. She wrote the music for Desde El Alma, a Boston-style vals, at age 14 in 1911. In 1922 she married poet Victor Piuma Velez who wrote the first set of lyrics for Desde El Alma. It was a theme dedicated to the love of a mother. In 1948, Homero Manzi called to tell them that he was interested in including the song in his movie Pobre mi madre querida, but with different lyrics as demanded by the movie script. This would not affect the copyright ownership of the song. Piuma Velez and Rosita Melo opposed the idea, and requested that if Manzi wrote new lyrics, Piuma Velez’s name should be included as co-author. Manzi agreed, the lyrics became famous and the vals, already a classic became universally famous. The Boston-vals is a style originated in the city of that name in the United States. It is associated with the piano and its characteristic is that the player does not mark the rhythm with the left hand as it is customary with that instrument. The rhythm is marked witht he right hand along with the melody. The left hand only marks the first note of the beat, the bass. Edited by Valorie Hart

CASTELLANO

ENGLISH

Alma, si tanto te han herido ¿Por qué te niegas al olvido? ¿Por qué prefieres llorar lo que has perdido buscar lo que has querido llamar lo que murió? Vives inútilmente triste y sé que nunca mereciste pagar con penas la culpa de ser buena, tan buena como fuiste, por amor. Fue lo que empezó una vez lo que después dejó de ser. Lo que al final, por culpa de un error fue noche amarga del corazón. ¡Deja esas cartas! Vuelve a tu antigua ilusión. Junto al dolor que abre una herida llega la vida, trayendo amor. Vives inútilmente triste y sé que nunca mereciste pagar con penas la culpa de ser buena tan buena como fuiste, por amor.

Soul, if they have hurt you so much Why do you refuse to forget? Why do you prefer to cry for what you’ve lost to look for what you’ve wanted to call for what has died? You live needlessly sad and I know that you never deserved to redeem with sorrow the blame of being good, as good as you were, for love. It was what once began what later ceased to be. What at the end, for the fault of a mistake was a bitter night for the heart. Forget those letters! Come back to your old dream. Together with the pain that opens a wound life arrives, bringing love. You live needlessly sad and I know that you never deserved to redeem with sorrow the blame of being good, as good as you were, for love

Copyright (c) Planet Tango 1998-2011 All Rights Reserved

SUR

South (1948)

LYRICS by: Homero Manzi

MUSIC by: Anibal Troilo

TRANSLATION by: Alberto Paz

Last updated on: 8/13/12

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Sing along with EDMUNDO RIVERO with ANIBAL TROILO

The corner of San Juan and Boedo Avenues, is an intersection made famous by Homero Manzi in his tango Sur. An act of Congress in 1995 that declared the bar at that location an area of historical Interest. That is why the exterior of the building has been preserved as is. In 2000 the bar was renamed Homero Manzi. The lyrics of the tango evoke the younger years of Homero Manzi first living with his parents near San Juan and Boedo and later being a pupil at a school in the neighborhood of Pompeya. With his verses, Manzi links the two neighborhood in a romantic image of a time that is part of his memories.

CASTELLANO

ENGLISH

San Juan y Boedo antigua y todo el cielo, Pompeya y, mas alla, la inundacion, tu melena de novia en el recuerdo, y tu nombre flotando en el adios… La esquina del herrero barro y pampa, tu casa, tu vereda y el zanjon y un perfume de yuyos y de alfalfa que me llena de nuevo el corazon. Sur… paredon y despues… Sur… una luz de almacen… Ya nunca me veras como me vieras, recostado en la vidriera y esperandote, ya nunca alumbrare con las estrellas nuestra marcha sin querellas por las noches de Pompeya. Las calles y las lunas suburbanas y mi amor en tu ventana todo ha muerto, ya lo se. San Juan y Boedo antigua, cielo perdido, Pompeya y, al llegar al terraplen, tus veinte años temblando de cariño bajo el beso que entonces te robe. Nostalgia de las cosas que han pasado, arena que la vida se llevo, pesadumbte del barrio que ha cambiado y amargura del sueño que murio.

Old San Juan and Boedo street corner, the whole sky Pompeya and farther down, the floods Your bride’s loose hair in my memory and your name floating in the farewell The blacksmith’s corner, mud and pampa, your house, your sidewalk, and the deep ditch and a scent of weeds and of alfalfa that fills my heart all over again. South, a large wall and then… South, a light from a general store… You’ll never see me again, like you saw me, reclined on the glass window and waiting for you. I’ll never illuminate with the stars our walk without quarrels on the evenings of Pompeya… The streets and the suburban moons, and my love on your window, all is dead, I know it… Old San Juan and Boedo street corner, lost sky, Pompeya and reaching the embankment, your twenty years trembling with affection under the kiss I then stole from you. Nostalgia of things that have past, sand that life swept away, sorrow of the barrio that have changed, and bitterness of a dream that died.

Copyright (c) Planet Tango 1998-2012 All Rights Reserved

ABANDONO

Abandonment (1937)

LYRICS by: Homero Manzi

MUSIC by: Pedro Maffia

TRANSLATION by: Walter Kane

Last updated on: 9/8/11

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Sing along with Juan Carlos Casas with the Pedro Laurenz Orchestra

This is the better known of several collaborations between Pedro Maffia and Homero Manzi. Pedro Laurenz recorded it in 1937 with the voice of Juan Carlos Casas.

CASTELLANO

ENGLISH

Llega el viento del recuerdo aquel al rincón de mi abandono y entre el polvo muerto del ayer, también volvió tu querer. Yo no sé si vivirás feliz o si el mundo te ha vencido… si viviendo sin querer vivir buscás la paz de morir. Duda de tu ausencia y de mi culpa, pena de tener que recordar. Sueño del pasado que me acusa, manos que no quieren perdonar. Dolor amigo de estar con tu sombra, remordimiento de saberte buena. Dolor lejano de oír que te nombran las voces muertas que se obstinan en volver. Ya no sueño que retornarás al fracaso de mi vida ni tampoco que en tu palpitar tendría un afán para andar. Sólo quiero que si estás también en la cruz del abandono, sepas olvidarme en tu perdón… Total, mirá lo que soy. Pena de tu ausencia sin retorno, pena de saber que no vendrás. Pena de escuchar en mi abandono, voces que me acusan al llegar. Dolor amigo de estar con tu sombra, remordimiento de saberte buena. Dolor lejano de oír que te nombran, las voces muertas del ayer feliz. Yo no sé si vivirás feliz o si el mundo te ha vencido… si viviendo sin querer vivir buscás la paz de morir.

The wind of that memory arrives at the corner of my abandonment and amid the dead dust of yesterday, your love also returned. I don’t know if you will live happily or if the world has defeated you… If living without wanting to live, you seek the peace of dying. Doubt of your absence and of my blame, sorrow of having to remember. Dream of the past that accuses me, hands that don’t want to forgive. Friendly pain of existing with your shadow, regret of knowing you are good. Distant pain of hearing the dead voices that name you again and again. Now I don’t dream that you will return to the failure of my life, nor that in your heart beat, I would have the urge to go. I only wish that if you are also on the cross of abandonment, You’ll know how to forget me in your mercy… So, look at what I am. Sorrow of your absence without return, sorrow of knowing that you won’t come back, Sorrow of hearing in my abandonment, voices that accuse me when they arrive. Friendly pain of existing with your shadow, regret of knowing you are good. Distant pain of hearing the dead voices, of yesterday’s happiness that name you. I don’t know if you will live happily or if you the world has defeated you… If living without wanting to live, you seek the peace of dying.

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