While the tango “Canta, pajarito” is not among the best works of lyricist Oscar Rubens, it has won a lot of fans on the dance floor, being popular with dancers as well as DJs. Rubens penned a number of catchier songs, of greater stature: “Gime el viento,” “Calla, bandoneón,” “Lejos de Buenos Aires,” “Cuatro compases,” “Los muñequitos,” “Llueve otra vez,” “El vals soñador”… So what maks this one jump out?
It’s that simple, repeatable, simply repeatable chorus. Half of it is just the title, which is pretty much the best marketing a song can get.
As for the content of the song, the bird of the title plays quite a small part, aside from his advertising role. The premise is a grieving lover, who after the death of his lady is at home with his sorrows. Rubens had a knack for keeping such situations in focus, and without complicating them with additional themes, making them very singable. The result is a song that sits easy in the genre, without quite speaking of its decade in particular. With its empty room and downcast lover of the earliest tangos, and its romantic tenderness of a latter day, it almost seems like a number that would have been just right for Gardel, in a movie that never was.
Canta, pajarito (1943)
Music: Juan José Guichandut
Lyrics: Oscar Rubens
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En la soledad
sufriendo está
mi corazón.
Y qué triste estoy
desde esa noche cruel
que el cielo la llevó.
La casa entera enmudeció,
su risa se apagó…
¡Sus pasos y su voz extraño!
Se ha marchitado aquel rosal,
testigo familiar
de nuestro amor de tantos años.
¡Todo ha cambiado desde que se ha ido!
¡Todo está triste desde que no está!
Y el pajarito tan cantor,
unido a mi dolor
ahora ya no canta más.
Canta, canta, pajarito…
Canta, canta tu canción…
¡Ayúdame a calmar
mi pena y mi dolor,
ayúdame a soñar
que está a mi lado!
Canta, canta, pajarito…
Canta, canta, tu canción…
Ya no alumbra el sol
con su fulgor
mi triste hogar.
Ya no besaré
ni nunca gustaré
sus labios de coral.
Ya nunca más he de escuchar
su voz angelical,
ni el timbre de su risa franca,
ni he de sentirme acariciar
con esa suavidad
de aquellas sus dos manos blancas.
¡Todo ha cambiado desde que se ha ido!
¡Todo está triste desde que no está!
Y el pajarito tan cantor,
que sufre como yo
ahora ya no canta más.
Carol, Little Songbird
(Tr. Jake Spatz)
YouTube: Raúl Berón (orq. Lucio Demare)
Roberto Rufino (orq. Carlos Di Sarli)
In its solitude
My hurting heart
Is left alone.
And how sad I’ve grown
Since on that cruel night
The heavens bore her off.
A quiet fell upon the house,
Her little laugh went out…
I miss her voice’s sound approaching!
The rosebush wilted all away,
The witness to a day
Our love of many years was growing.
Now all has changed from what it was, without her!
Now all is sad unlike it was before!
And now the little singing bird,
United to my hurt,
Is never singing anymore.
Carol, carol, little songbird…
Carol, carol out your song…
Help me to ease the sighs
Of anguish and remorse,
Help me to fantasize
She’s in my arms now!
Carol, carol, little songbird…
Carol, carol out your song…
Now the sun no more
Fills up with warmth
My saddened home.
Now I’ll never kiss
The coral of her lips,
The touch I used to know.
Now I’ll never get to hear
Her voice so angel clear,
The jingle of her laughter breaking,
I’ll never feel the tenderness
Within the soft caress
Her two white hands were ever making…
Now all has changed from what it was, without her!
Now all is sad unlike it was before!
And now the little singing bird,
Who just like me is hurt,
Is never singing anymore.