The tango’s legacy as a major branch of song begins with “Mi noche triste.” The lyrics come from guitarist and songwriter (and later playwright) Pascual Contursi, who added his words to the existing tune “Lita,” which had been composed a year earlier by Samuel Castriota. Before this revolutionary moment, tangos did not have words of much lasting value—the earliest lyrics were silly, boastful, sometimes dirty, seldom adroit, and rarely poignant. Contursi’s example changed all that, by painting a scene where two characters have lived, and where one laments his losses and shows his vulnerable side openly.
Contursi’s character and scenery were not wholly original, but derived from the verismo movement in opera and literature, which instead of historical events on the grand scale, chose to depict the lower classes of society in their everyday lives. This proved to be formative for the tango, and later songwriters followed suit. As for the history of “Mi noche triste,” it became the first tango released on disc by Carlos Gardel, in 1917, but did not achieve widespread fame until the following year, when it was included in the sainete (one-act) Los dientes del perro (The Teeth of the Dog), written by José González Castillo and Alberto Weisbach. From the stage, it reached growing audiences through the performance of actress Manolita Poli (in the role of María Luisa), accompanied by the orchestra of Roberto Firpo.
The stage continued to be essential to the tango’s growth and popularity as well. Castillo would soon become a noted tango songwriter himself, with “Sobre el pucho” (1923) and “Griseta” (1924), among others, included in his plays; and Weisbach later co-wrote the play Delikatessen Haus with Samuel Linnig, which featured the seminal tango “Milonguita.”
NOTE: “Mi noche triste” has been arranged in various ways by singers, many of them choosing to sing the two choruses together (“Cuando voy” and “Ya no hay”) and omit the second verse (“De noche, cuando”). In Gardel’s second recording, from 1930, which is linked below, he sings the stanzas in the order shown here.
My Saddened Night
(Tr. Jake Spatz)
YouTube: Carlos Gardel (1930 version)
(Verse 1.)
You little skirt who dumped me
Just at the peak of my history,
Who sank my poor soul in misery
And left my heart full of thorns—
Who knew that you were my treasure
And my singular pleasure
And my burning desire…
Now I have no place to turn to
But the booze where I yearn to
Drown away your love’s fire.
(Chorus 1.)
When I come in my apartment
And see it all disheveled,
The sad, abandoned hovel
Just makes me want to cry;
And I sit there like a fixture
To keep watch on her picture
And soothe my sorry eye.
(Verse 2.)
Now every night at bedtime
I leave the room’s door open,
Because it lets the hope in
You still might someday return—
I always serve little biscuits
With the máte to drink it
Like I brought it for you…
If you could just see our mattress
Lying sunken in sadness
To see one and not two.
(Chorus 2.)
The bachelor pad is missing
Those pretty bottles in rows,
With all their cute little bows
And ribbons of one hue.
The mirror’s face has gone clouded
Since you left here without it
Like it’s been weeping for you.
(Trio.)
The guitar inside the wardrobe
Is hanging there as ever:
Nobody sings to it, never
Do its strings now twang at all.
And the lamp within the bedroom
Has felt your absence, pining,
And scarcely lets its shining
On my saddened night now fall.
Mi noche triste (1916)
Music: Samuel Castriota
Lyrics: Pascual Contursi
(Verso 1.)
Percanta que me amuraste
en lo mejor de mi vida,
dejándome el alma herida
y espinas en el corazón,
sabiendo que te quería,
que vos eras mi alegría
y mi sueño abrasador,
para mí ya no hay consuelo
y por eso me encurdelo
pa’ olvidarme de tu amor.
(Estribillo 1.)
Cuando voy a mi cotorro
y lo veo desarreglado,
todo triste, abandonado,
me dan ganas de llorar;
me detengo largo rato
campaneando tu retrato
pa’ poderme consolar.
(Verso 2.)
De noche, cuando me acuesto
no puedo cerrar la puerta,
porque dejándola abierta
me hago ilusión que volvés.
Siempre llevo bizcochitos
pa’ tomar con matecitos
como si estuvieras vos,
y si vieras la catrera
cómo se pone cabrera
cuando no nos ve a los dos.
(Estribillo 2.)
Ya no hay en el bulín
aquellos lindos frasquitos,
arreglados con moñitos
todos del mismo color.
El espejo está empañado
y parece que ha llorado
por la ausencia de tu amor.
(Trio.)
La guitarra, en el ropero
todavía está colgada:
nadie en ella canta nada
ni hace sus cuerdas vibrar.
Y la lámpara del cuarto
también tu ausencia ha sentido
porque su luz no ha querido
mi noche triste alumbrar.