Gardel possessed a baritone voice deployed with unerring musicality and dramatic phrasing, creating miniature masterpieces among the hundreds of three-minute tangos which he recorded during his lifetime. Together with his long-term collaborator, lyricist Alfredo Le Pera, Gardel also wrote several classic tangos, notably 'Mi Buenos Aires querido', 'Amores de Estudiante', 'Soledad', 'Volver', 'Por una cabeza' and 'El día que me quieras'.
Gardel was born to unmarried 25-year-old laundress Berthe Gardes, the baby registered under the name Charles Romuald Gardes in Toulouse, France, on 11 December 1890. The father of the baby boy was listed on his birth certificate as "unknown"; eleven days later Berthe Gardes signed a statement establishing the baby's father as Paul Laserre, a married man who left Toulouse a few months before the baby was born. Berthe Gardes left Toulouse a few years later, likely to escape the social stigma of having a child born out of wedlock. In early 1893 in Bordeaux, France, mother and son boarded the ship SS Don Pedro and sailed to Buenos Aires, arriving on 11 March 1893. Berthe Gardes had her passport recorded; she told immigration authorities that she was a widow. The two-year-old boy was recorded as Charles Gardes.
Gardel grew up going by Carlos, the Spanish version of his French name, and often by the familiar diminutive form Carlitos. He lived in the Abasto neighborhood of Buenos Aires. He attended Pio IX Industrial high-school located in the Almagro neighborhood of Buenos Aires. His mother worked pressing clothes in the French style.
Gardel began his career singing in bars and at private parties, and in 1911 formed a duet with Francisco Martino, and after with José Razzano (which would last until 1925), singing a wide repertory. Gardel made the music his own by inventing the tango-canción in 1917 with 'Mi Noche Triste', a theme by Pascual Contursi and Samuel Castriota, which sold 100,000 copies and was a hit throughout Latin America. Gardel went on to tour Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia and made appearances in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and New York. He sold 70,000 records in the first three months of a 1928 visit to Paris. As his popularity grew, he made a number of films for the Paramount in France and the USA, which were essentially vehicles for his singing and matinée-idol looks.
When Gardel and his collaborator Le Pera were killed in an airplane crash in Medellín, Colombia in 1935, millions of his fans throughout Latin America went into mourning. Hordes of people thronged to pay their respects as the singer's body travelled via Colombia, New York and Rio de Janeiro to its final resting place in La Chacarita cemetery in Buenos Aires.
Gardel is still revered from Buenos Aires to Tokyo, where people like to say that "he sings better every day." His fans still like to place a lit cigarette in the fingers of the life-sized statue which adorns his tomb. One of Gardel's favourite phrases, 'Veinte años no es nada' (Twenty years is nothing) became a famous saying across Latin America.
El Carretero
Carlos Gardel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
que la del pobre carrero,
con la picana en la mano
picando al buey delantero.
(hablado)
Cola Blanca,
Pertiguero.
cuidado con ese pozo,
no volquemos la carreta
píqueme ese buey.
(hablado)
Barro buey,
Cola Blanca,
Hueya Nevao.
Compañero de mi vida,
cuidado con esa zanja
no se le encaje la rueda
píqueme ese buey Cola Blanca.
(hablado)
Cola Blanca,
Zaraza
Pertiguero.
Salí de Montevideo
en direición a mi casa
mi mujer estará diciendo:
"mi marido trae zaraza.
(hablado)
Zaraza buey,
Cola Blanca,
Lomo Overo.
Husch, husch... viejo buey.Pertiguero.
The lyrics to Carlos Gardel's "El Carretero" paint a bleak picture of the life of a poor 'carretero', or cart driver, as he guides his oxen along the dusty roads. The singer describes the carretero as having no more wretched existence, as he holds a whip in his hand and spurs the lead oxen on. The first stanza sets the tone for the rest of the song, with a starkly realistic portrayal of the carretero's life. The second and third stanzas show the care and attention the carretero must give to his animals, as he warns his companion of potential hazards and encourages the oxen to pull the heavy cart through the mud.
Line by Line Meaning
No hay vida más desgraciada que la del pobre carrero, con la picana en la mano picando al buey delantero.
The life of a poor cart driver is very miserable, who has to carry a whip in hand and constantly whip the front ox.
Compañero de mi vida, cuidado con ese pozo, no volquemos la carreta píqueme ese buey.
Oh my dear friend, be careful of that well, let's not tip over the cart and please urge the ox onwards.
Compañero de mi vida, cuidado con esa zanja no se le encaje la rueda píqueme ese buey Cola Blanca.
Dear friend, be careful of that ditch road ahead, let's not get the wheel stuck and please urge the ox Cola Blanca.
Salí de Montevideo en dirección a mi casa mi mujer estará diciendo: 'mi marido trae zaraza.
I left Montevideo heading towards my home, my wife must be thinking that I am bringing unnecessary stuff.
Husch, husch... viejo buey.
Come on, come on... old ox.
Writer(s): Guillermo Portabales
Contributed by Joseph D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@mabdlv2026
CARLITOS ES PATRIMONIO DE LA HUMANIDAD!!!😃🥰👏👏👏👍🇦🇷
@NestorMuscari-vm2tp
Cómo juega con la voz Carlitos,hace lo que quiere y como si fuera poco silba extraordinariamente bien.
@carlosnabais8481
Majestuoso!!!
@CarolitaJohnson
Anyone have the chords for this? Or sheet music?
@guidodiluch863
Tacuarembo tierra natal de gardel 100% charrua oriental uruguayo
@megacuervo8692
Tan cierto como que el supuesto padre uruguayo de gardel fue también padre de Frank Sinatra. Dejen de mentir uruguayos, con la de Sinatra quedaron demasiado expuestos. Hasta Pepe Mugica siendo presidente dijo que no hacía falta una declaración oficial del gobierno uruguayo porque TODOS SABEMOS QUE GARDEL NACIÓ EN FRANCIA.
@joslou
Francia toulouse, queda cerca de montevideo?
@damiandaniele1448
Que triste que no te junte nadie
@alejandroleiva8549
@@cristianmedinasanchezbandasono la famosa: me contó un amigo
@MarianaEstin67
@@megacuervo8692 y Mujica ahora sabe de Gardel,