Born Aug 22, 1961 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he began his professional musical career at the age of 17 playing keyboards in Raíces.
In 1981 he incorporated to one of the main bands of the Argentinean '80s rock scene: Los Abuelos de la Nada. Although the band was led by the brilliant Miguel Abuelo, Calamaro composed most of the band's hits, like "Mil Horas," "Así es el calor," "Sin gamulán" and "Costumbres Argentinas."
In 1984 he made his solo debut with Hotel Calamaro. The album was a bizarre mix of styles and musicians, and didn't gain public or press support.
In 1985 he left Los Abuelos de la Nada and registered his second album Vida Cruel. Inspite of the important musicians and guests, such as Luis Alberto Spinetta and Charly García, the album was a disappointment: both commercially and artistically. But if as a songwriter the luck was out of reach, he had an intense and successful work as a producer of bands like Los Enanitos Verdes, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs and Don Cornelio y la zona. He also worked and collaborated with many artists of different styles and genres, a constant attitude through his whole career. The third album Por Mirarte showed Calamaro in a better shape with an established band. Released in 1988 it contains some outstanding songs such as "Con los dientes apretados" and "Me olvidé de los demás," while others like "Cartas sin Marcar" and "Loco por tí" helped the album to get popular.
When Calamaro released in 1989 Nadie Sale Vivo de Aquí, Argentina was living it's worst economical crisis: few albums were released. The album title suggest it all: Nobody comes out alive from here. The LP production was paralyzed, and the few that could make it were almost ignored. That was Calamaro's case. This situation lead the singer to settle in Spain, following a road taken by many Argentinean rockers. Out there in Spain he met Ariel Rot y Javier Infante, former members of Tequila. They formed Los Rodríguez in 1991, a pop-rock band that was very popular in Spain and Latin America: Calamaro's songs began to be popular like in the early '80s: the hit maker was on the road again. Curiously, from Spain, he was conquering Argentina. While being part of the band he didn't release any new solo material, just Grabaciones Encontradas 1 y 2, a couple of CDs that contained unreleased and rare material from the '80s.
After the split of Los Rodríguez, Calamaro returned to his solo career recording Alta Suciedad in 1997, an album produced by Joe Blaney. This album brought him the commercial success that seemed to fail in his previous solo efforts, and sold 300.000 copies just in Argentina. That is certainly a huge amount for the country's small market. No doubts, that album helped him to be placed between the star legends of the national rock scene. Before that album Calamaro was considered an important character, appreciated by other musicians, but not a main one. After he broke up with his spanish girlfriend he released in 1999 the double CD Honestidad Brutal. Recorded when he was 37, it contained 37 songs of despair, love loss, drugs and regret. It was not as successful at the previous album, but showed a new Calamaro: desperate, decadent and often elegant at the same time, with a new and raw lyrical approach. El Salmon followed in spring 2001.
Calamaro's next proyect, El Cantante, was released in 2005. A delicious mixture of tango, rock n'roll and flamenco guitars (mostly played by spanish prodigy El Niño Josele).
After a break, he returned to the stages with a tour full of classics that gave birth to a live album called El Regreso on 2005, recorded with members of Bersuit Vergarabat as a backing band. This album was very well received for the charts as well as for the critics, wich lead him to different awards. One year later, on 2006, Andres published a new album from the roots of tango with the collaboration of guitarrists Niño Josele and Juanjo Dominguez. On 2007 El palacio de las flores was published, although it was recorded on 2006. The album had the collaboration and musical influence of argentine composer Lito Nebbia and was also recorded on his studio. This was the return to a classic Calamaro album with new songs and hits.
Malena
Andrés Calamaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Y en cada verso pone su corazón
Al yuyo de suburbio su voz perfuma
Malena tiene penas de bandoneón
Tal vez allá en la infancia su voz de alondra
Tomo ese tono oscuro de callejón
Cuando se pone triste con el alcohol
Malena canta el tango con voz de sombra
Malena tiene pena de bandoneón
Tu canción tiene el frío
Del último encuentro
Tu canción se hace amarga
En la sal del recuerdo
Yo no sé si tu voz es la flor de una pena
Solo sé que al rumor de tus tangos, Malena
Te siento más buena
Más buena que yo
Tus tangos son criaturas abandonadas
Que cruzan sobre el barro del callejón
Cuando todas las puertas están cerradas
Y ladran los fantasmas de la canción
Malena canta el tango con voz quebrada
Malena tiene pena de bandoneón
"Andrés Calamaro's song Malena" is an ode to a mythical figure in the tango world. In this song, Malena sings the tango like no one else, infusing every verse with all her heart, and her voice perfumes the suburbian weeds. Malena has the blues of the bandoneon, and maybe her childhood had an alondra-like voice that turned into a dark alley's tone. Or maybe that unnamed romance is the reason she becomes sad when alcohol is around. Malena sings the tango with a shadowy voice, and her bluesy bandoneon-like feeling remains always with her.
The singer is expressing his feelings towards Malena, who is a unique and influential figure in the tango world. He juxtaposes her cold and bitter tangos with his own cold last encounter, suggesting that they share common feelings of despair and rejection. The singer praises Malena's ability to evoke a deep sense of nostalgia and emotion through her song, describing her tangos as abandoned creatures that wander through the muddy streets of the city when all doors are closed. He concludes by saying that despite not knowing if Malena's voice is the result of her sorrow or something else, her tangos always touch his heart and make him feel less alone.
Line by Line Meaning
Malena canta el tango como ninguna
Malena sings tango like nobody else
Y en cada verso pone su corazón
In each line, she puts her heart
Al yuyo de suburbio su voz perfuma
Her voice perfumes the weeds in the outskirts
Malena tiene penas de bandoneón
Malena's sorrows are like the bandoneón's music
Tal vez allá en la infancia su voz de alondra
Maybe back in her childhood, her voice was like a lark
Tomo ese tono oscuro de callejón
She took on the dark tone of the alley
O acaso aquel romance que solo nombra
Or maybe that romance she only mentions
Cuando se pone triste con el alcohol
When she gets sad with alcohol
Malena canta el tango con voz de sombra
Malena sings tango with a shadow's voice
Tu canción tiene el frío
Your song has the coldness
Del último encuentro
Of the last meeting
Tu canción se hace amarga
Your song becomes bitter
En la sal del recuerdo
In the salt of memory
Yo no sé si tu voz es la flor de una pena
I don't know if your voice is the flower of sorrow
Solo sé que al rumor de tus tangos, Malena
I only know that at the sound of your tangos, Malena
Te siento más buena
I feel you are better
Más buena que yo
Better than me
Tus tangos son criaturas abandonadas
Your tangos are abandoned creatures
Que cruzan sobre el barro del callejón
That cross over the mud of the alley
Cuando todas las puertas están cerradas
When all the doors are closed
Y ladran los fantasmas de la canción
And the ghosts of the song bark
Malena canta el tango con voz quebrada
Malena sings tango with a broken voice
Malena tiene pena de bandoneón
Malena's sorrows are like the bandoneón's music
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MANZIONE HOMERO NICOLAS, HOMERO NICOLAS MANZIONE, LUCIO DEMARE Y RICCIO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind