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.
La Ultima Copa
Carlos Gardel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
hasta el borde la copa de champán,
que esta noche de farra y de alegría
el dolor que hay en mi alma quiero ahogar.
Es la última farra de mi vida,
de mi vida, muchachos, que se va...
mejor dicho, se ha ido tras de aquella
que no supo mi amor nunca apreciar.
Yo la quise, muchachos, y la quiero
y jamás yo la podré olvidar;
yo me emborracho por ella
y ella quién sabe qué hará.
Eche, mozo, más champán,
que todo mi dolor,
bebiendo lo he de ahogar;
y si la ven,
muchachos, díganle
que ha sido por su amor
que mi vida ya se fue.
Y brindemos, nomás, la última copa,
que tal vez también ella ahora estará
ofreciendo en algún brindis su boca
y otra boca feliz la besará.
Eche, amigo, nomás, écheme y llene
hasta el borde la copa de champán,
que mi vida se ha ido tras de aquella
que no supo mi amor nunca apreciar.
The lyrics of Carlos Gardel's La última copa are about drowning one's sorrows in alcohol after heartbreak. The singer asks his friend to fill his champagne glass to the brim because he wants to forget the pain in his soul on this night of celebration and revelry. It is the last night of his life, and he wants to drown the pain of losing the woman he loved and never forgetting her. He knows he can never forget her and will always love her. He drinks to her, unaware of what she may be doing or who she may be with. The singer continues to ask for more champagne, hoping to drown his pain completely and forget about the woman he lost. The song ends with a toast to the last glass of champagne, hoping that the woman he loved is happy with someone else.
The lyrics of La última copa speak to the power of love as experienced by the singer. Despite his love for the woman who left him, he realizes that he will never be able to move on and forget her. He drowns his sorrows, hoping to escape the pain, but ultimately recognizing that he will always carry that love with him. The lyrics are melancholy and reflect the singer's sense of loss and the bittersweet realization that his life will never be the same.
Line by Line Meaning
Eche amigo, nomás, écheme y llene
Pour, my friend, and fill the champagne glass to the brim
hasta el borde la copa de champán,
Fill the champagne glass to the brim
que esta noche de farra y de alegría
On this night of revelry and joy
el dolor que hay en mi alma quiero ahogar.
I want to drown the pain in my soul
Es la última farra de mi vida,
It’s the last celebration of my life
de mi vida, muchachos, que se va...
Of my life, boys, that is departing…
mejor dicho, se ha ido tras de aquella
Or better said, it has gone after that one
que no supo mi amor nunca apreciar.
Who never knew how to appreciate my love
Yo la quise, muchachos, y la quiero
I loved her, boys, and still do
y jamás yo la podré olvidar;
And I will never be able to forget her;
yo me emborracho por ella
I get drunk because of her
y ella quién sabe qué hará.
And who knows what she will do.
Eche, mozo, más champán,
Pour more champagne, waiter,
que todo mi dolor,
For all my pain,
bebiendo lo he de ahogar;
I will drown it by drinking;
y si la ven,
And if you see her
muchachos, díganle
Boys, tell her
que ha sido por su amor
That it has been because of her love
que mi vida ya se fue.
That my life has already gone.
Y brindemos, nomás, la última copa,
So let’s raise our glasses for the last time,
que tal vez también ella ahora estará
Because maybe she is doing the same thing now
ofreciendo en algún brindis su boca
Offering her lips in a toast somewhere else
y otra boca feliz la besará.
And another happy mouth will kiss hers.
Eche, amigo, nomás, écheme y llene
Pour, my friend, and fill the champagne glass to the brim
hasta el borde la copa de champán,
Fill the champagne glass to the brim
que mi vida se ha ido tras de aquella
Because my life has gone after that one
que no supo mi amor nunca apreciar.
Who never knew how to appreciate my love.
Contributed by Hailey J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@FernandoVelasco-rx6um
Gardel; siempre sentimiento, dolor y nostalgia. El sentir de un barrio, de un pueblo, de una nación.
@13579844
Soy Basco y siempre tuve. tengo.y tendre una grande admiracion por ese grande cantor que la muerte se lo llevó en el auge de su carrera. Tengo 84 años y desde niño le acompañe en sus sucesos que asta hoy son recordados con cariño. Nos dejó innumerables canciones como herencia. Gracias GARDEL.
@emii9303
Con 17 años disfruto de un mágico cantor como lo es el gran Carlos gardel
@wilsondarosa2450
Nací. Crecí escuchando a este gran cantante de tango..tengo 54 y aun lo sigo escuchando..
@leidy1968
19 años y valorando el tango Salud 🥂
@RocKI4N
De los tantos hermosos regalos del maestro, dichoso de vivir en aquella época dorada del país donde se floreaba la cultura, de cada momento se hacia un verso, de aquellos mirares brotaba el amor. Hoy no se puede mirar a una mujer a los ojos por la calle, que huyen susurrando acoso, cuantos desencuentros que en estos tiempos se dan, gracias a la incultura que unos pocos imponen desde allá arriba.
@bernabejaramillo405
De niño la cantaba con mucha emosión y aún la sigo cantando
@rosariobrochero1210
No paro de llorar ...cuanto lo amo .El es LA VOZ, por ese motivo se lo llevaron !!!
@jorgedemarco5388
Si pudiera volver a nacer desearía que fuese en el tiempo de Carlitos Gardel, para disfrutar su voz en primera fila. Fue, es y será el mejor cantor de tangos del mundo entero. Si señor.
@adelaquip8411
Atesoro este tango xq me recuerda a mi viejo❣q lo cantaba en reunion de amigos.