Just as the lyrics for “Charlemos” bring the telephone into the world of song, “Si tú quisieras” revolves around the metaphor of photographs. Luis Rubistein, who penned the words for both tangos, opens here with the singer reminiscing over a past love affair, mentally sifting through photos, and casting a soft light on the romance—as well as on his wish to reclaim that sweetness from the passing of time.
Arresting time is the main theme here, and fittingly it makes the words become indeterminate. Verb tenses get subtly disjointed from each other. The chorus leads into a grammatical mist, beginning with a conditional clause and drifting into a string of infinitives, leaving verbal time unresolved and hanging in a world of wishes. Like the song’s central metaphor of the photograph, it shows a fragment of life, a snapshot of desire, frozen and removed from the flow of time—and saved from the finality of consequences.
NOTE. Many online sources copy these lyrics in misleading form, with the second verse broken into a bridge followed by a stanza that falls one phrase short of the melody. The version here restores the lines to a proper arrangement.
If You Should Want To
(Tr. Jake Spatz)
YouTube: Alberto Podestá | Roberto Rufino
Going over photos in my heart alone,
Your image filled my life
Without an equal.
What’s the bend your journey came to
That diverted and detained you?
If I knew where I could find you,
I’d come and kiss you
As I’m inclined to…
And such a night
Shall I have in my heart,
Instead of shades and wrong,
The softer, warmer light
Of tender song.
If you should want to
Stop time from going,
If you should want to
Feel smiles growing…
Nor speak again of that goodbye
From faith,
And live all over…
And kiss your eyes there
Full of illusions
Like yesterday.
Neither time’s advance or any distance yet
Shall make us soon forget
Our past romancing.
I know your misty eyes are clouded,
And your dreams are all enshrouded,
And my soul is going to meet you
Some unknown night
To kiss and greet you.
And such a night
Shall I have in my heart,
Instead of shades and wrong,
The softer, warmer light
Of tender song.
Si tú quisieras (1943)
Music: Francisco Pracánico
Lyrics: Luis Rubistein
Removiendo fotos en mi corazón
tu imagen sin igual,
llenó mi vida.
¿Qué recodo de camino
hizo pausa en tu destino?
Si supiera dónde hallarte,
te buscaría
para besarte…
Y esa noche
habrá en mi corazón
en vez de sombra y mal,
la luz de una canción
sentimental.
Si tú quisieras
parar el tiempo,
si tú quisieras
volver sonriendo…
No hablar de aquel adiós
sin fe,
vivir de nuevo.
Besar tus ojos
llenos de sueños
igual que ayer.
Tiempo ni distancia no podrán jamás
hacernos olvidar
nuestro romance.
Sé que hay brumas en tus ojos
que tus sueños son despojos,
que mi alma va a encontrarte,
no sé qué noche
para besarte.
Y esa noche
habrá en mi corazón
en vez de sombra y mal,
la luz de una canción
sentimental.