Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina in 1921 to immigrant Italian parents, Piazzolla spent most of his childhood with his family in New York City. While there, he acquired fluency in four languages: Spanish, English, French, and Italian. He also started playing the bandoneon, quickly rising to the status of child prodigy. While still quite young, he met Carlos Gardel, another great figure of Argentine tango. He returned to Argentina in 1937, where strictly traditional tango still reigned, and played in night clubs with a series of groups. The pianist Arthur Rubinstein (then living in Buenos Aires) advised him to study with the Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera. Delving into scores of Stravinsky, Bartók, Ravel, and others, he gave up tango temporarily and worked as a modernist classical composer.
At Ginastera's urging, in 1953 Piazzolla entered his "Buenos Aires" Symphony in a composition contest, and won a grant from the French government to study in Paris with the French composer and conductor Nadia Boulanger. The insightful Boulanger turned his life around in a day, as Piazzolla tells beautifully in his own words:
"When I met her, I showed her my kilos of symphonies and sonatas. She started to read them and suddenly came out with a horrible sentence: ‘It's very well written.’ And stopped, with a big period, round like a soccer ball. After a long while, she said: “Here you are like Stravinsky, like Bartók, like Ravel, but you know what happens? I can't find Piazzolla in this.” And she began to investigate my private life: what I did, what I did and did not play, if I was single, married, or living with someone, she was like an FBI agent! And I was very ashamed to tell her that I was a tango musician. Finally I said, “I play in a ‘night club.’” I didn't want to say “cabaret.” And she answered, “Night club, mais oui, but that is a cabaret, isn't it?” “Yes,” I answered, and thought, “I'll hit this woman in the head with a radio....” It wasn't easy to lie to her.
She kept asking: “You say that you are not pianist. What instrument do you play, then?” And I didn't want to tell her that I was a bandoneon player, because I thought, “Then she will throw me from the fourth floor.” Finally, I confessed and she asked me to play some bars of a tango of my own. She suddenly opened her eyes, took my hand and told me: “You idiot, that's Piazzolla!” And I took all the music I composed, ten years of my life, and sent it to hell in two seconds."
Piazzolla returned to Argentina in 1955, formed the Octeto Buenos Aires to play tangos, and never looked back.
Upon introducing his new approach to the tango (nuevo tango), he became a controversial figure among Argentines both musically and politically. The Argentine saying "in Argentina everything may change — except the tango" suggests some of the resistance he found in his native land. However, his music gained acceptance in Europe and North America, and his reworking of the tango was embraced by some liberal segments of Argentine society, who were pushing for political changes in parallel to his musical revolution.
During the period of Argentine military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983, Piazzolla lived in France, but returned many times to Argentina, recorded there, and on at least one occasion had lunch with the dictator Jorge Rafael Videla. However, his relationship with the dictator might have been less than friendly, as recounted in Astor Piazzolla, A manera de Memorias (a comprehensive collection of interviews, constituting a memoir):
In 1990 he suffered a thrombosis in Paris and he passed away two years later in Buenos Aires.
Piazzolla's nuevo tango was distinct from the traditional tango in its incorporation of elements of jazz, its use of extended harmonies and dissonance, its use of counterpoint, and its ventures into extended compositional forms. Piazzolla also introduced new instruments that were not used in the traditional tango, including the flute, saxophone, electric guitar, electronic instruments, and a full jazz/rock drum kit.
Piazzolla played with numerous ensembles beginning with the 1946 Orchestra, the 1955 "Octeto Buenos Aires", the 1960 "First Quintet", the 1971 "Noneto", the 1978 "Second Quintet" and the 1989 "Sextet". As well as providing original compositions and arrangements, he was the director and Bandoneon player in all of them. He also recorded an album with jazz sax player Gerry Mulligan. His numerous compositions include orchestral work such as the "Concierto para Bandoneón, Orquesta, Cuerdas y Percusión", "Doble-Concierto para Bandoneón y Guitarra", "Tres Tangos Sinfónicos" and "Concierto de Nácar para 9 Tanguistas y Orquesta", as well as song-form compositions that still today are well known by the general public in his country, like "Balada para un loco" (Ballad for a madman) and "Adiós Nonino" (dedicated to his father) which he recorded many times with different musicians and ensembles. Biographers estimate that Piazzolla wrote around 3,000 pieces and recorded around 500.
He suffered a cerebral haemorrhage in Paris on 4 August 1990, which left him in a coma, and died in Buenos Aires, just under two years later on 4 July 1992, without regaining consciousness.
other albums not listed here
~ The Birth of Tango Nuevo, Vol. 1 - Sinfonia de Tango
~ Mis 30 Mejores Tangos
~ Piazzolla Interpreta A. Piazzolla (Original Album - Remastered)
~ Ensayos
~ Tiempo Nuevo
~ Se Armó
~ El Milrago - The Early Recordings, Vol. 2 (Astor Piazzolla With His First Own Orchestra, So Called 1946 Band.)
~ Tango Moderno
Vamos niña
Astor Piazzolla Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
¿De qué vergüenza entenderá
El mala bestia de ese bar
Que te pateó y que te escupió?
Acaríciale el piojo al perro que tenés, y le contás
Que entre la mugre te encontraste un hombro amigo en qué morir
Abrí la cuenca de los ojos
De un solo vómito brutal tu soledad, y vámonos
Mirá qué linda estás
Con tu ternura en pie
Y no estás sola, Nina, no
Yo estoy con vos
Nina, no llores
Mordete los ojos
Cachame las manos bien fuerte
Si viene la muerte, mangala
Que pague, de prepo y de a uno
Los días felices que debe
Mi Nina, con cabezas de paloma
Correremos hasta nunca
Por las tumbas de los pájaros mendigos
Que ya vieron la salida
Y saldremos de la mugre
Dandos saltos transparentes
Inmortales, ¡vamos, Nina!
¡Vamos, Nina!
Corramos, mi vieja, corramos
Si el viento te enreda el harapo
Si el frío te llaga las piernas
No pares, ni aflojes, ni vuelvas
Ni gimas, corré, corré
No te avergüences, Nina, no
Que nadie sabe bien quién es
Mirá si soy el dios capaz
De hacer mil panes con un pan
Y vos la loca que una vez
Roció sus trapos con alcohol
Y se incendió para no ver
Los presidentes que se van
Mirame, hermana, no temblés
No tengas miedo de morir
Los vivos oyen a sus muertos
Y hoy, por fin nos van a oír
Mirá qué linda está
Tu dignidad en pie
Y no estás sola, Nina, no
Yo estoy con vos
¡Vamos, vamos Nina!
Corramos, mi vieja, no aflojes
No, no aflojes
Corramos, corramos, mi Nina
The song "Vamos niña" by Astor Piazzolla is a song of empowerment and encouragement. The lyrics are directed towards Nina, who has experienced abuse and ridicule at a bar. The beginning of the song reassures Nina not to be ashamed of what has happened to her, and that the abuser at the bar is the shameful one. The lyrics then suggest that Nina should find comfort in her dog and confide in him about finding a friend who helped her. Finally, the lyrics encourage Nina to let out all of her emotions and to leave her solitude behind them.
The second paragraph reinforces the idea of not being alone. The singer tells Nina not to cry, but instead to hold his hands tightly. The lyrics suggest that if death comes, they will face it together. The song then moves to a more uplifting tone with the idea of running away with pigeon-heads, a metaphor for innocence, and erasing the memories of struggles. The chorus repeats the idea that Nina is not alone and that they will run away together.
Line by Line Meaning
No te avergüences, Nina, no
Don't be ashamed, Nina, nobody knows who you are.
¿De qué vergüenza entenderá
What does that beast in the bar know about shame?
El mala bestia de ese bar
That beast in the bar.
Que te pateó y que te escupió?
Who kicked you and spit at you?
Acaríciale el piojo al perro que tenés, y le contás
Pet your dog and tell him that you found a shoulder to cry on among the filth.
Que entre la mugre te encontraste un hombro amigo en qué morir
You found a friendly shoulder to cry on among the filth.
Abrí la cuenca de los ojos
Open up your eyes wide.
Bien abiertas y arrojá
Wide open and throw it all out.
De un solo vómito brutal tu soledad, y vámonos
Vomit out your loneliness and let's go.
Mirá qué linda estás
Look at how beautiful you are.
Con tu ternura en pie
With your tenderness standing tall.
Y no estás sola, Nina, no
You're not alone, Nina, I'm with you.
Yo estoy con vos
I'm with you.
Nina, no llores
Nina, don't cry.
Mordete los ojos
Bite your eyes.
Cachame las manos bien fuerte
Hold my hands tight.
Si viene la muerte, mangala
If death comes, let it come.
Que pague, de prepo y de a uno
Let it pay one by one.
Los días felices que debe
For the happy days it owes.
Mi Nina, con cabezas de paloma
My Nina, with heads like doves.
Correremos hasta nunca
We will run until forever.
Por las tumbas de los pájaros mendigos
Past the graves of the beggar birds.
Que ya vieron la salida
Who have already seen the way out.
Y saldremos de la mugre
And we will leave the filth behind.
Dandos saltos transparentes
Jumping gracefully.
Inmortales, ¡vamos, Nina!
Immortal, let's go, Nina!
¡Vamos, Nina!
Let's go, Nina!
Corramos, mi vieja, corramos
Let's run, my old friend, let's run.
Si el viento te enreda el harapo
If the wind tangles your rags.
Si el frío te llaga las piernas
If the cold hurts your legs.
No pares, ni aflojes, ni vuelvas
Don't stop, don't give up, don't turn back.
Ni gimas, corré, corré
Don't cry, run, run.
Que nadie sabe bien quién es
Nobody really knows who you are.
Mirá si soy el dios capaz
What if I am the God who can do anything?
De hacer mil panes con un pan
Who can make ten loaves of bread from one.
Y vos la loca que una vez
And you, the crazy one who once.
Roció sus trapos con alcohol
Poured alcohol on her rags.
Y se incendió para no ver
And set herself on fire to avoid seeing.
Los presidentes que se van
The presidents who leave.
Mirame, hermana, no temblés
Look at me, sister, don't tremble.
No tengas miedo de morir
Don't be afraid to die.
Los vivos oyen a sus muertos
The living hear their dead.
Y hoy, por fin nos van a oír
And today, they will finally hear us.
Mirá qué linda está
Look at how beautiful she is.
Tu dignidad en pie
Your dignity standing tall.
¡Vamos, vamos Nina!
Come on, come on, Nina!
Corramos, mi vieja, no aflojes
Let's run, my old friend, don't give up.
No, no aflojes
Don't give up.
Corramos, corramos, mi Nina
Let's run, let's run, my Nina.
Writer(s): Astor Pantaleon Piazzolla, Horacio Ferrer
Contributed by Bella W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.