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Our Next Event

Milonga Falucho/Chelsea on March 17 has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis. "The Meaning of Tango" looks forward to returning on a future date. Check back for updates.



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  1. dumdeedooMarch 5, 2020 at 2:04 PM

    Hi Renee, I'm looking for a way to contact you book a table for Milonga Falucho on March 17, 2020, and found this blog. Please let me know what's a better way to communicate! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What Tango MeansMarch 5, 2020 at 2:11 PM

      This is John responding. Renée takes reservations at renee.rouger@gmail.com or by Facebook messenger if you are connected with her there.

      Delete

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Se dice de mí

Although written for the Uruguayan singer Carlos Roldán in 1943, Tita Merello made Se dice de mí  her own in 1954, and it has been sung by women ever since. At Milonga Falucho at Café Argentino in Brooklyn, Renée mimed the lyrics as John recited his English translation of the version made famous by Merello. It was the first milonga in this series. Live music for the evening was provided by Emiliano Messiez (piano) and Adolfo Trepiana (bandoneón).

Se dice de mí (1943) Milona
Letra de Ivo Pelay Música de Francisco Canaro

They Say This of Me (1943) Milonga
Lyrics by Ivo Pelay, trans. J. Osburn Music by Francisco Canaro
Se dice de mí... se dice de mí... se dice de mí... Se dice que soy fiera, que camino a lo malevo, que soy chueca y que me muevo con un aire compadrón, que parezco Leguisamo, mi nariz es puntiaguda, la figura no me ayuda y mi boca es un buzón.
They say this of me… They say this of me… They say this of me… They say that I’m a beast, that I swagger like a tough, that I strut like I’m hot stuff wit…
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Amarras

This is a familiar tango, often played in D'Arienzo tandas at milongas. The music is spry at times and even cheerful, with flashes of darkness, yet the lyrics are entirely on the dark side. To explore this paradox, John and Renée recited the lyrics at Milonga Falucho/Chelsea as DJ Carlos Quiroga played a well-known version in the background. There was no live music for the night, instead a dance performance by Alejandra Hobert and Adrian Veredice.

Amarras 1944 Letra de Carmelo Santiango Música de Carlos Marchisio
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Vago como sombra atormentada bajo el gris de la recova, me contemplo y no soy nada... Soy como mi lancha carbonera que ha quedado recalada, bien atada a la ribera. Yo también atado a mi pasado soy un barco que está anclado y siento en mi carne sus amarras como garfios, como garras. Lloro aquellos días que jamás han de volver; sueño aquellos besos que ya nunca he de tener, soy como mi lancha carbonera que ha…
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Bailarín compadrito

In the human comedy of tango, the compradito is a mythic figure, a sort of urban gaucho with a swaggering attitude, done up in a looped scarf and a slouched hat that mimicks upper class style and taunts its values. He's a stock character in tango shows and artistic depictions, and perhaps he resembles some types we see on our own dance floors. In dancing the song, one might take on or resist the persona. The composer-lyricist Miguel Eusebio Bucino was himself a dancer and bandoneón player who debuted at Teatro Maipu and performed internationally. DJ Carlos Quiroga played de Angelis's rousing version at Falucho/Chelsea following John and Renée's recitation.

Bailarín compadrito (1929) Letra y música de Miguel Eusebio Bucino

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