In the early 1900s, the sainete was a short theatrical form in one or two acts, which in Buenos Aires became very popular as the demand for inexpensive entertainment grew with the city’s populace. Alberto Vaccarezza was one of the form’s most successful writers, and like many others he integrated a song into the show to focus a character’s response to the action. His tragicomic show Cuando un pobre se divierte (When a Poor Guy Has Fun) debuted at Teatro Nacional on Oct. 19, 1921, to great success—much of it due to the tango “La copa del olvido,” first sung onstage by actor José Cicarelli in the show’s second act, and soon recorded by Carlos Gardel.
The song and its surrounding production was a huge hit for everyone involved. The theater was running 4 shows a day. By December, every hotel, bar, and cabaret in the city had a piano plunking out its chords while someone sang the opening lines. It crossed the ocean and became a big number in Spain—years later, its composer Enrique Delfino (who authored a lot of famous tangos in the 1920s) was introduced there by its name. Hugo Del Carril sings it in Manuel Romero’s 1939 film La vida es un tango. Gardel’s 1921 recording appears as a memory trigger in the chorus of the 1942 tango “Lejos de Buenos Aires,” by Oscar Rubens. And in 1951, the original show was enlarged and made into a movie. Quite the legacy, for a glass of forgetting!
The Glass of Forgetting
(Tr. Jake Spatz)
YouTube: Carlos Gardel | Hugo Del Carril |
Alberto Castillo
Waiter! Pour me another,
And serve others one of whatever they want.
I’m on my own here, and so depressed by
The rude awakening I stumbled on.
Waiter! Pour me another,
For last night, together, I saw them in town…
I wanted vengeance, I could have killed her,
But by some impulse I settled down.
Out in the streets then I went bewildered,
And stumbled down here, all in a blur,
To ask around among all the wise men,
What shall I do now, what is the cure…
Forget her, buddy—some guys will tell me—
But there’s no chance of forgetting her…
And if I kill her… to live without her…
To live without her… I can’t endure.
Waiter! Pour me another,
And serve others one of whatever they want.
I want to cheer up, down in this wine here,
If wine can help me forget where I’ve gone.
Waiter! Pour me another,
And serve others one of whatever they want.
La copa del olvido (1921)
Music: Enrique Delfino
Lyrics: Alberto Vaccarezza
.
¡Mozo! Traiga otra copa
y sírvase de algo el que quiera tomar,
que ando muy solo y estoy muy triste
desde que supe la cruel verdad.
¡Mozo! Traiga otra copa
que anoche, juntos, los vi a los dos…
Quise vengarme, matarla quise,
pero un impulso me serenó.
Salí a la calle desconcertado,
sin saber cómo hasta aquí llegué
a preguntarle a los hombres sabios,
a preguntarles qué debo hacer…
Olvide, amigo—dirán algunos—,
pero olvidarla no puede ser…
Y si la mato, vivir sin ella,
vivir sin ella nunca podré.
¡Mozo! Traiga otra copa
y sírvase de algo el que quiera tomar…
Quiero alegrarme con este vino
a ver si el vino me hace olvidar.
¡Mozo! Traiga otra copa
y sírvase de algo el que quiera tomar.