AN ARGENTINE TANGO CALLED "NADA" - THE BEAUTIFUL LYRICS

SPANISH AMERICAN POETS AND COMPOSERS THAT I LOVE

Spanish speaking people are generally very lyrical. The Spanish language offers a lot of possibilities, with a vast vocabulary and many figures of speech that can vary from the frankly beautiful to the harsh and cruel.

Spanish America is famous for its poets, both male and female.  There are various Nobel Prize winners amongst the well known writers from the various countries of this fascinating area of the New World.

However, beautiful lyrics are not exclusively produced by the well known and famous. If you search through the music of the ordinary everyday composers of the songs and melodies that are popular with the common professional and working class inhabitants, individuals like you and me, you will very often find incredible verses that include beautiful combinations of simple words that evoke the entire range of human feelings and sentiments.

This blog is bilingual, written both in English and in Spanish. It is a fitting place to portray this poetic tendency by including the authentic Spanish lyrics and combining them with my free translations, which are not quite the same as the more commercialized translations that can be found on the Internet. 

My translations come from the heart, and I believe them to be more authentic.

Let’s try it with one of my favorite Argentine Tangos!

FILETEADO, THE STREET ART OF BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

Source: Sara and Ian of London, CC BY 2.0. Wikimedia Commons

NADA, A TANGO

This composition dates from the Golden Age of Tango, 1935 – 1955. The composer was José Dames, a unique artist in that he didn’t follow the traditional musical structure of the classic Tango too closely. In this particular example of his artistic work, he chose to reduce the use of short chromatic scales and increase the length of the more lyrical passages.

His partner in the composition of the lyrics for Nada was Horacio Sanguinetti, and the outstanding musical phrasing of the song is closely matched by the sadness and beauty of the poetry. The result is a really outstanding and enduring work of art. (1944).

MY VERY FREE TRANSLATION OF THE LYRICS

 NADA

I’ve come to your house, I don’t know how.

I’ve been told that you’re not in, 

that you will never return.

I’ve been told you've gone away!

A lot of snow is on my soul.

There’s a great silence at your door.

Standing at the threshold,

a padlock of pain has stopped my heart.

Nothing, nothing can be seen 

at the house where you were born,

only weeds threaded with cobwebs.

The rosebush is no more,

it surely died when you went away…

Such a cross to bear!

Nothing, nothing but sadness and stillness…

Nobody can tell me if you still live…

Where are you? I want to tell you that, repentant,

I’ve come in search of your love!

I’m walking away from your house,

without knowing where to go…

Unwillingly I say farewell,

and the echo of your voice

answers me out of nowhere.

At the crosspiece of your padlock,

I have prayed for your sorrow,

and at your gate, from my heart

a tear has rolled down

and turned into a flower.

NADA

Tango 1944

José Dames and Horacio Sanguinetti

He llegado hasta tu casa…

¡Yo no sé como he podido!

Si me han dicho que no estás,

que ya nunca volverás…

¡Si me han dicho que te has ido!

¡Cuánta nieve hay en mi alma!

¡Qué silencio hay en tu puerta!

Al llegar hasta el umbral,

un candado de dolor

me detuvo el corazón.

Nada, nada queda en tu casa natal…

Sólo telarañas que teje el yuyal.

El rosal tampoco existe

Y es seguro que se ha muerto al irte tú…

¡Todo es una cruz!

Nada, nada más que tristeza y quietud.

Nadie que me diga si vive aún…

¿Dónde estás, para decirte

que hoy he vuelto arrepentido a buscar tu amor?

Ya me alejo de tu casa

y me voy ya ni sé donde…

Sin querer re digo adiós

y hasta el eco de tu voz

de la nada me responde.

En la cruz de tu candado

por tu pena yo he rezado

y ha rodado en tu portón

una lágrima hecha flor

de mi pobre corazón.

MY FAVORITE LINES FROM THIS SONG. A PADLOCK OF PAIN...  Source: Nino Barbieri, CC BY 2.0.Wikimedia Commons “Standing at the threshold, a padlock of pain has stopped my heart”  ”At your gate, a tear has rolled down and formed a flower” A ROSE WITH TEAR DROPS  Source: Pixabay Public Domain For those of you who can read Spanish, maybe you can find these lines in the Spanish verses, they are so beautiful! NADA, SUNG BY JULIO SOSA I would be very happy if you would take the time to listen to this superb verion of NADA”. The scenes are from the city of Buenos Aires.  Source: YouTube © 2013  joanveronica  (Joan Robertson)