Tango Lyrics in Spanish and English

CHORRA
Thief (1928)
Lyrics by: Enrique Santos Discepolo Music by: Enrique Santos Discepolo


Translated by: Alberto Paz Return to Table of Contents
Last update on: 1/22/08
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Nena

Discepolo wrote this tango for a play in 1928 using genial expressions of contemporary slang to tell the story of a guy who got taken to the cleaners by his wife and her parents. This is perhaps depicted the best in the verse "Entre todos me pelaron con la cero," referring to the razor used by male hair stylists to cut the hair to the surface of the scalp. 

CASTELLANO ENGLISH
Por ser bueno, me pusiste en la miseria,
me dejaste en la palmera, me afanaste hasta el color.
En seis meses me fundiste el mercadito,
la casiya de la feria, la ganchera, el mostrador...
Chorra!
Me robaste hasta el amor...
Aura
tanto me asusta una mina
que si en la calle me afila
me pongo al lao del boton.
Lo que mas bronca me da
es haber sido tan gil.

Si hace un mes me desayuno
con lo qu' he sabido ayer.
No era a mi que me cachaban
tus rebusques de mujer...
Hoy m'entero que tu mama,
"noble viuda de un guerrero",
es la chorra de mas fama
que piso la treinta y tres.
Y he sabido qu' el "guerrero"
que murio lleno de honor,
ni murio ni fue guerrero
- como m' engrupiste vos -
Esta en cana pronturiado
como agente 'e la camorra,
profesor de cachiporra,
malandrin y estafador.

Entre todos me pelaron con la cero
tu silueta fue el anzuelo donde yo me fui a ensartar.
Se tragaron, vos, "la viuda" y "el guerrero",
lo que me costo diez años de paciencia y de yugar...
Chorros!
Vos, tu vieja y tu papa.
Guarda!
Cuidense porque anda suelta,
si los cacha, los da vuelta,
no les da tiempo a rajar.

Lo que mas bronca me da
es haber sido tan gil.
For being nice, you drove me into misery,
you left me hanging from a palm tree, you even stole my color.
In six months you bankrupted my little market,
the stand at the fair, the hooks, the counter...
Thief!
You even stole my love...
Now
a woman scares me so much
that if one approaches me on the street
I hide behind a cop.
What really pisses me off the most
is to have been so stupid.

For a month I have suspected
what I've learned yesterday.
It wasn't me who were after,
your woman's fleeting love...
Today I learned that your mother,
"noble widower of a warrior",
is the most famous thief
that set foot on the 33rd precint.
And I found out that the "warrior"
who died with full honors,
didn't die, nor was a warrior
-as you lied to me-
He's in jail booked
as a hit man of the mafia,
professor of truncheon,
scroundel and swindler.

The three of you took me to the cleaners
your silhouete was the hook where I happened to get caught,
You, the "widow" and the "warrior" went through
what I worked hard and patiently for ten years...
Thieves!
You, your old lady and your dad.
Watch out!
Take care because she is on the loose,
if she catches you, she flips you upside down
she won't give you time to run.

What really pisses me off the most
is to have been so stupid.

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