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LYRICS
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translated by Jake Spatz

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La cumparsita     The little marching band*
 
Music: Gerardo Matos Rodríguez
Lyrics: Pascual Contursi/Enrique Maroni
  Tr. Jake Spatz
Recited 22 March 2006, Divino Lounge
 
Si supieras,
que aún dentro de mi alma,
conservo aquel cariño
que tuve para ti...
Quién sabe si supieras
que nunca te he olvidado,
volviendo a tu pasado
te acordarás de mí...

If you just knew
that now as ever within my soul,
I'm holding on to that same affection
I felt for you before...
Who could say if you'd ever know
that I have never forgotten you,
if, turn as you do, back to your past,
you think of me anymore...

Los amigos ya no vienen
ni siquiera a visitarme,
nadie quiere consolarme
en mi aflicción...
Desde el día que te fuiste
siento angustias en mi pecho,
decí, percanta, ¿qué has hecho
de mi pobre corazón?

My old buddies no longer come round
never even to pay a visit;
no one even asks me "what is it?"
to soothe me as I pine...
Since the day that you up and left me
anguish moved in my chest and stayed:
tell me, darling, what you have made
of this poor heart of mine?

Sin embargo,
yo siempre te recuerdo
con el cariño santo
que tuve para ti.
Y estás en todas partes,
pedazo de mi vida,
y aquellos ojos que fueron mi alegría
los busco por todas partes
y no los puedo hallar.

Nevertheless,
evermore I recall you always
with that same divine affection
I had for you before.
And you're with me wherever I go,
you're the meaning of my life,
and those eyes that were all my life's joy,
I try to find them wherever I go
and don't see them anywhere.

Al cotorro abandonado
ya ni el sol de la mañana
asoma por la ventana
como cuando estabas vos,
y aquel perrito compañero,
que por tu ausencia no comía,
al verme solo el otro día
también me dejó...

In our little unkempt apartment,
the morning sun now, it doesn't pass
the same way by the window glass
as when it shone on you;
and that little companion puppy
who's gone hungry since you went away,
eyed me alone the other day
and he, he left me too...

* The title of "La cumparsita" (The little marching band) has absolutely nothing to do with the song's lyrics. In the case of this song (and a few others: "El choclo," for instance), the title belongs to the tune, which came first; the lyrics were added later.

Also, the above text is only one of several different versions of the lyrics to "La cumparsita." Since the melody was also used for poetry recitals with original or improvised lyrics, it's rather hard to say how many sets of lyrics there are.



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