Carlos Lenzi’s now famous lyrics for the 1925 tango “A media luz” rode a catchy tune to hit status, and its staying power has proven the song a classic through the decades. After popular success in its own day was safely established, as testified in recordings by Gardel, Azucena Maizani, and a number of dance bands, the song went on to become one of the tango’s calling cards, and was soon familiar throughout Latin America and the Spanish-speaking world. Nowadays its continued popularity keeps it easily within the top tangos of all time, and it stands among the three most recorded songs of the genre (the other two being “La Cumparsita” and “El choclo,” although “Adiós, muchachos” is in there somewhere too).
The lyrics show a more gentle side of the 1920s tango, and provide a window onto the world of intimate affairs. They depict a man describing his bachelor pad to a potential lover, and he entices her to a tryst. (The second verse gives the phone number to go with the address, and pictures a hotel or some other more semi-social ambience.) While emanating from a world of masculine privilege, the tune was nonetheless adopted by several female stars of stage and screen, as a flirty number showcasing their own allure. Among these highlights we can count Libertad Lamarque’s version from the 1955 film Escuela de musica (filmed during her later career in Mexico), as well as a 1960 rendition by Spanish superstar Sarita Montiel. Both clips, linked below, feature some playful acting. The song was also debuted by a woman: Lucy Clory sang it in the 1925 show Su majestad la revista (His Majesty the Revue) at Teatro Catalunya in Montevideo.
As a sidenote on the lyrics, it is worth noting that “A media luz” depicts the very Corrientes Street that was soon demolished, as lamented in last week’s selection “Tristezas de la calle Corrientes.” The plaque currently at 348 is a convenience for tourists, the original location having long ago disappeared. Other notes: Maple & Co. was a furniture firm of British origin that operated 1850-1982; cocaine (second verse) was a legal and widely available painkiller through the 1920s.
The Lights Down Low
(Tr. Jake Spatz)
YouTube: Libertad Lamarque (1955 film)
Sarita Montiel (1960 film)
Corrientes 3-48,
The lift up to the second floor.
There’s no doorman and no neighbors.
A cocktail and love’s behind the door.
A flat fully furnished at Maple’s:
Piano, rug, and lamp decor,
A telephone with receiver,
A new victrola that pours out
Good old tangos from before,
And a kitten made of china
That will never raise a roar.
And all the lights down low
For casting spells of love,
The lights down low for kissing,
The lights down low for us.
And all the lights down low
As twilight fills the cove…
How soft and smooth the velvet
With lights down low for love!
Juncal 1-2-24,
Don’t be shy to telephone.
Each evening, tea and pastries;
At nightfall, tango and song.
Every Sunday, there’s a tea dance;
On Mondays, no one’s at home.
The place has all you could ask for:
The plushest pillows and sofas;
Coke, and pharmacy stuff;
Some rugs to muffle the noises,
And a table set for love.
A media luz (1925)
Music: Edgardo Donato
Lyrics: Carlos Lenzi
.
Corrientes 3, 4, 8,
segundo piso, ascensor.
No hay porteros ni vecinos.
Adentro, cocktail y amor.
Pisito que puso Maple:
piano, estera y velador,
un telefón que contesta,
una victrola que llora
viejos tangos de mi flor
y un gato de porcelana
pa' que no maulle al amor.
Y todo a media luz,
que es un brujo el amor,
a media luz los besos,
a media luz los dos.
Y todo a media luz
crepúsculo interior.
¡Qué suave terciopelo
la media luz de amor!
Juncal 12, 24
Telefoneá sin temor.
De tarde, té con masitas;
de noche, tango y cantar.
Los domingos, tés danzantes;
los lunes, desolación,
Hay de todo en la casita:
almohadones y divanes;
come en botica, cocó;
alfombras que no hacen ruido
y mesa puesta al amor.