If tango lyrics collectively comprise a kind of epic soap opera, then that poem’s opening chapter centers on the 1920 tango “Milonguita.” Penned by the debonair playwright (and inveterate gambler) Samuel Linnig, the song portrays a young country girl seduced by the tango to enter a life of luxurious debauchery working in the city nightclubs. The song, premiered by actress María Esther Podestá (to whom it was later dedicated), was the single positive element of the one-act farce Delikatessen Hauss, which Linnig had co-written with Alberto Weisbach, and which was an unmitigated failure on the stage.
Before this tango’s immense popularity, the word milonguita evoked a simple coquette, a flapper working the clubs as a hired dancer; in the wake of the song’s fame, the word became forever linked to its tragic picture of city nightlife and empty modern glamour… and the tango as a modern genre of storytelling song, a miniature modern opera, was born.
Milonguita
(Tr. Jake Spatz)
YouTube: Carlos Dante (orq. Alfredo De Angelis)
Do you recall, Milonguita? You once were
The prettiest girl of Chiclana;
With your bashful skirts and your braids,
And your braids with a kiss of the sun.
And during those evenings of summer,
What dreams took your little soul, woman,
As you heard on the corner some tango
With its low, luring whispers of love?
Esthercita…
Now they call you Milonguita,
The flower of nightlife and play,
Of the luxury lounge cabaret.
Milonguita…
The men have treated you wrong,
And you’d give up your whole soul now
To put your percale back on.
As you step in the dark of the morning,
Milonguita, from that cabaret,
With your whole soul a shiver of coldness,
You say, Ah, if love just came my way!…
And between the first wine and last tango,
Some tycoon takes you back to his place…
How alone, little Esther, you’re feeling!
When you cry… they just blame the champagne!
Milonguita (1920)
Music: Enrique Delfino
Lyrics: Samuel Linnig
¿Te acordás, Milonguita? Vos eras
la pebeta más linda ’e Chiclana;
la pollera cortona y las trenzas,
y en las trenzas un beso de sol.
Y en aquellas noches de verano,
¿qué soñaba tu almita, mujer,
al oír en la esquina algún tango
chamuyarte bajito de amor?
Estercita,
hoy te llaman Milonguita,
flor de noche y de placer,
flor de lujo y cabaret.
Milonguita,
los hombres te han hecho mal
y hoy darías toda tu alma
por vestirte de percal.
Cuando sales por la madrugada,
Milonguita, de aquel cabaret,
toda tu alma temblando de frío
dices: ¡Ay, si pudiera querer!…
Y entre el vino y el último tango
p’al cotorro te saca un bacán…
¡Ay, qué sola, Estercita, te sientes!
Si llorás… ¡dicen que es el champán!