Mi barrio esta de fiesta, con su mejor sonrisa
y una ternura extraña, me invade el corazón,
parece que las horas, corriesen más de prisa
y que del mismo barro, brotase una canción.
La murga de purretes, desafinando un tango
machuca los oidos, con destemplada voz,
gorriones de mi barrio, que vuelcan en el fango,
puñados de alegria, que les regala Dios.

¡Carnaval de mi barrio!,
donde todo es amor,
cascabeles de risa,
matizando el dolor,
¡carnaval de mi barrio!,
pedacito de sol,
con nostalgias de luna,
y canción de farol.

La que volvio sin honra, se disfrazó de apache,
y el barrio en cada puerta, comenta sin cesar,
su traje descarado, sus ojos azabache,
y su poca vergüenza, que no sabe ocultar.
El tano verdulero, sentado en la vereda,
mastica su cachimbo, cansado de fumar
y en su sonrisa amarga una nostalgia enreda;
también alla en Italia vivió su carnaval.

My neighborhood is celebrating with its best smile
and a strange tenderness invades my heart,
it seems that the hours pass more quickly
and from the mud itself, a song sprouts.
A band of street kids, singing a tango out of tune
bruises the ears with an unpleasant voice,
these are sparrows of my neighborhood, that spill on the mud,
handfuls of joy, that God gives them.

Carnival in my neighborhood!
where everything is love,
bells of laughter,
toning down the pain,
carnaval in my neighborhood!
small piece of sun,
with nostalgias of moon,
and song of lamppost.

The woman who came back without honour, disguised as a thug,
and the neighbors in each door gossiped non stop,
about her shameless costume, her jet black eyes,
and her lack of modesty, that she doesn’t know how to hide.
The Italian grocer seated on the sidewalk,
chews on his pipe tired of smoking
and in its bitter smile a nostalgia tangles;
Back in Italy, he too lived his carnival.