After John's recitation in English of this plaintive tango, María Graña's version was played for the crowd. It is more a canción than
a dance tune (the lyricist's father, Pascual Contursi, was credited with inventing the tango song with Mi noche triste), but several couples took to their feet in Esquina de
Falucho at Café Argentino in Brooklyn. There were two sets of live
music by Javier Sánchez (bandoneón) and Marizio Najt (keyboard).
Listen to María Graña sing Como dos extraños here:
Como dos extraños
(1940)
Letra de José María Contursi
Música de Pedro Laurenz
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Like Two Strangers (1940)
Lyrics by José María
Contursi, trans. J. Osburn
Music by Pedro
Laurenz
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Me acobardó la
soledad
Y el miedo enorme de
morir lejos de ti...
¡Qué ganas tuve de
llorar
Sintiendo junto a mí
La burla de la
realidad!
Y el corazón me
suplicó
Que te buscara y que
le diera tu querer...
Me lo pedía el
corazón
Y entonces te busqué
Creyéndote mi
salvación...
|
It’s being alone that daunted me…
The looming fear that I might die so far apart from you...
How, oh how, I wanted to cry,
Feeling myself subjected to
The mocking cruelty of reality!
I obeyed no less than the heart’s demand
That I seek you out and give you back your love…
I did the bidding of the heart
Believing if I found you
You would keep me from falling apart…
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Y ahora que estoy
frente a ti
Parecemos, ya ves,
dos extraños...
Lección que por fin
aprendí:
¡Cómo cambian las
cosas los años!
Angustia de saber
muertas ya
La ilusión y la
fe...
Perdón si me ves
lagrimear...
¡Los recuerdos me
han hecho mal!
|
Now that we’re face to face I apprehend
That we, don’t you see, are as two strangers…
The lesson I learned in the end:
How the years as they pass really do change things.
The anguish of knowing that love will die
If faith and hope already have…
I didn’t mean for you to see me cry…
It’s the memories have made me ill!
|
Palideció la luz del
sol
Al escucharte
fríamente conversar…
Fue tan distinto
nuestro amor
Y duele comprobar
Que todo, todo
terminó.
¡Qué gran error
volverte a ver
Para llevarme
destrozado el corazón!
Son mil fantasmas,
al volver
Burlándose de mí,
Las horas de ese
muerto ayer…
|
The sun’s own light dimmed and went pallid
On hearing the coldness of your words and sighs…
Our love was unlike any other
And it hurt to realize
That it all—all of it ended.
How rash it was to see you this way,
Presenting me on a platter a heart destroyed!
The deadly hours of yesterday
Are a thousand
phantoms
Come to taunt
me again today…
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Notes
This is a subtle lyric whose meanings multiply on successive
encounters. It tells a story and captures a moment of personal crisis and deep realization. As
usual, I set out to reflect the lines and rhyme schemes, I hope without taking
too much license along the way.
—John Osburn
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