Lejos de Buenos Aires
Lejos de Buenos Aires (Far from Buenos Aires) is the title of a tango written by Oscar Rubens in 1942. The music was composed by Alberto Suárez Villanueva. Far from Buenos Aires, hearing a tango unleashes a wave of memories within the poet’s heart. He suddenly feels with a cruel intensity the distance and his loneliness, regret for having left everything behind and the strong wish of returning to his homeland.
Contents
Recordings
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Lyrics
Con la mueca del pesar, viejo, triste y sin valor...
Lento el paso al caminar... Voy cargando mi dolor.
Lejos de la gran ciudad que me ha visto florecer,
en las calles más extrañas siento el alma oscurecer.
Nadie observa mi final, ni le importa mi dolor...
Nadie quiere mi amistad, ¡sólo estoy con mi amargor!
Y así vago sin cesar desde el día que llegué,
cuando en pos de un sueño loco todo, todo abandoné...
Y andando sin destino de pronto reaccioné
al escuchar de un disco el tango aquel:
"Mozo, traiga otra copa" -que lo cantaba Carlos Gardel.
Y al escucharlo recordé todo el pasado,
los años mozos tan felices que pasé...
Mi viejecita, la barra amiga...
la noviecita que abandoné...
¡Tango que trae recuerdos!
¡Mi Buenos Aires... quiero llorar!
Buenos Aires, mi ciudad... ¡cuánto extraño tu emoción!
Hoy que vuelvo a recordar se me parte el corazón...
¡Cómo pude yo dejar, cómo pude abandonar
el calor de aquella tierra que me dio ternura y paz!
La casita paternal que me vio feliz crecer,
mi amorcito pasional y la barra del café;
todo vuelve a resurgir en la dulce evocación
y al pensar lo que he dejado
se me escapa un lagrimón.
Por eso, emocionado me ha hecho estremecer
al escuchar de un disco el tango aquel:
"Mozo traiga otra copa," que lo cantaba Carlos Gardel.
Y al escucharlo recordé todo el pasado,
los años mozos tan felices que pasé...
Mi viejecita, la barra amiga,
la noviecita que abandoné...
¡Tango que trae recuerdos!
¡Mi Buenos Aires... quiero volver!
With a burdened grimace, old, sad and worthless…
Walking slowly… I go around carrying my pain.
Far from the great city that saw me bloom,
along the strangest streets I feel my soul grow dark.
Nobody sees my end, nor cares about my pain…
Nobody wants my friendship, I’m alone with my bitterness!
And so I wander without rest since the day I arrived,
when, after a crazy dream, I abandoned everything, everything…
And going around aimlessly I suddenly reacted
when I heard a record playing that tango:
“Waiter, bring another drink”, sung by Carlos Gardel.
And as I heard it I remembered the entire past,
the young years, so happy, that I spent…
My dear mom[1], the gang of friends,
the loving [2] girlfriend I abandoned…
Tango that brings memories!
My Buenos Aires… I want to cry!
Buenos Aires, my city… how I miss your thrill!
Today that I remember again, my heart breaks…
How could I ever leave… how could I ever abandon
the warmth of that land that gave me tenderness and peace!
My father’s home that saw me grow up happy,
my passionate little love and the group from the café;
everything comes back once again in this sweet recalling…
and when I think of what I’ve left behind
my eyes well up. [3]
That’s why I shivered with emotion
when I heard that tango from a record:
‘Waiter, bring another drink’, sung by Carlos Gardel.
And listening to it I remembered all the past,
the young years, so happy, that I spent…
My dear mom, the gang of friends,
the loving girlfriend I abandoned…
Tango that brings memories!
My Buenos Aires, I want to go back!
References
- ↑ In the Spanish original he refers to his mother as his viejecita (lit. ‘little old lady’).
- ↑ Once more, in the original lyrics he uses the word noviecita (lit. ‘little girlfriend’). The use of the diminutive may simultaneously refer to the fact that they were both very young, and that he loved/still loves her.
- ↑ In the Spanish original se me pianta un lagrimón, lit. ’a big tear escapes from me’.