RFT's book on Tango is proving to be an excellent source! Only 1/3 of the way in, and already swimming in new research avenues. The chapter devoted to "tango as text" describes (and translates) a handful of prominent tango lyrics. RFT references another writer, Jorge Gottling (Tango: The Melancholy Witness), who uncovered 9 recurring themes in tango text.
9 Themes in Tango Lyrics:
1. skepticism
2. the angelic mother
3. the break up of a love affair
4. the lovers' reencounter
5. revenge
6. the barrio knife fight
7. the fleeting quality of love
8. retreat into alcohol
9. gambling
Here's a sample lyric, by Ángel G. Villoldo, 1910
My girl's got a gift
For the real creole tango,
And all its quick stops.
There's power in her hips,
She's a motor, she's tops
She's tango deluxe.
The perfect woman of my youth.
The woman's voice in Tango Text: Eladia Blázquez, b. 1931
Buenos Aires, it's you and me (1967)
Buenos Aires!
I swear on my soul
there's no stronger geography
than your urban landscape.
Here, day after day,
my shoes, my dress, and fears
all gently fade.
I'd be stripped of pride,
I couldn't exist
under any other sky but yours
even when your tangos hurt
as does, sometimes, a guy's warm hand
even when it's hard
to make a living in this land
Nevertheless, because I am as you are,
be it giving or denying,
I proclaim you, Buenos Aires, my town.
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