This waltz is among the most beloved ones to emerge from that unrepeatable decade of the ’40s, and it marks a special moment in the careers of its creators. For lyricist José María Contursi, the Petrarch of the tango, this is one of the few songs he penned which puts another theme before his fateful love for Gricel, but instead turns to that major subject of the tango in the 1940s—nostalgia for the old neighborhood. (Contursi appears to have written this waltz just a few months before Cátulo Castillo was to write the memorable “Tinta roja,” exploring the same theme even more deeply and with a very similar vibe.)
As for the tune’s composers, Héctor Stamponi and Enrique Francini: both were then working as sidemen in the orchestra of Miguel Caló. When the band brought this song into the studio, it was the first time in three years that Caló’s group had recorded anything. Yet from this moment forward, his All-Star Orchestra was to change the style of tango bands, bringing a classier, smoother sound to the genre, which soon came to embody the decade. Last but not least, this tune marked the recording debut of the young singer Alberto Podestá—who despite the resonance of his voice, was then a mere 16 years old and working underage.
With a Starry Heaven Above Me
(Tr. Jake Spatz)
YouTube: Alberto Podestá (orq. Miguel Caló)
So long after I left I’m returning
To the hood I departed one day…
With a longing to see on its sidewalks
My buddies of old and the good old café.
In the night with its quiet and darkness,
It’s as though I can hear on the breeze:
“Don’t forget I belonged to you always,
And ever awaited your coming to me.”
Tonight I’m turning once again
Into that dreaming little boy,
Who loved you once and sang his pain
To you in verses…
There is a voice that is whispering through me,
“I know you’ve come to me, to find her… to find her!”
How sad and friendly all at once
Is the suburban loneliness,
The little houses and the trees
All painting shadows…
To feel that all this… reminds me about her,
How mighty an urge does it give me to cry!
With the star-covered heavens above me,
In the shadows I pass like a shade…
I won’t see her again who so loved me,
The woman I have to get over today!
In the night with its quiet and darkness,
It’s as though I can hear on the breeze:
“Why remember that I was yours ever,
If I wait no longer that you’ll come to me!”
Bajo un cielo de estrellas (1941)
Music: Enrique Francini & Héctor Stamponi
Lyrics: José María Contursi
Mucho tiempo después de alejarme,
vuelvo al barrio que un día dejé…
con el ansia de ver por sus calles
mis viejos amigos, el viejo café.
En la noche tranquila y oscura
hasta el aire parece decir:
"No te olvides que siempre fui tuya
y sigo esperando que vuelvas a mí".
En esta noche vuelvo a ser
aquel muchacho soñador
que supo amarte y con sus versos
te brindó sus penas…
Hay una voz que me dice al oído:
"Yo sé que has venido por ella… por ella!"
Qué amable y qué triste es a la vez
la soledad del arrabal
con sus casitas y los árboles
que pintan sombras.
Sentir que todo… que todo la nombra,
¡qué ganas enormes me dan de llorar!
Bajo el cielo cubierto de estrellas
una sombra parezco al pasar…
No he de verme jamás con aquella
¡qué tanto me quiso… y hoy debo olvidar!
En la noche tranquila y oscura
hasta el aire parece decir:
"Para qué recordar que fui tuya
si yo ya no espero que vuelvas a mí!"