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.
Uno
Carlos Gardel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
el camino que los sueños
prometieron a sus ansias...
Sabe que la lucha es cruel y es mucha
pero lucha y se desangra
por la fe que lo empecina.
Uno va arrastrándose entre espinas
Sufre y se destroza hasta entender,
que uno se quedo sin corazón...
Precio de castigo que uno entrega
por un beso que no llega
o un amor que lo engaño,
vació ya de amar y de llorar
tanta traición...
Si yo tuviera el corazón,
el mismo que perdÃ;
si olvidara a la que ayer
lo destrozo,
y pudiera amarte,
me abrazarÃa a tu ilusión
para llorar tu amor.
Pero Dios te trajo a mi destino
sin pensar que ya es muy tarde
y no sabré como quererte,
déjame que llore como aquel
que sufre en vida
la tortura de llorar
su propia muerte.
Buena como eres salvarias
mi esperanza con tu amor...
Uno esta tan solo en su dolor,
uno esta tan ciego en su penar...
Pero un frió cruel que es peor
que el odio, punto muerto
de las almas, tumba horrenda
de mi amor, maldijo para siempre
y me robo... toda ilusión...
Si yo tuviera el corazón,
el mismo que perdÃ;
si olvidara a la que ayer
lo destrozo,
y pudiera amarte,
me abrazarÃa a tu ilusión
para llorar tu amor.
Letras transcritas por Diego Vanegas
The lyrics of Carlos Gardel's song Uno y Uno describe the struggles of a person who is searching for love and fulfillment but is constantly met with disappointment and betrayal. The song captures the emotional toll this relentless pursuit takes on a person, as they fight through their pain and cling to their faith in the hope that they will find what they are looking for. The opening lines, "Uno busca lleno de esperanzas / el camino que los suenos / prometieron a sus ansias..." ("One searches, full of hope / the path that dreams / promised to its desires...") show the determination and optimism of the person despite the harsh reality of their situation.
As the song progresses, the lyrics describe the sacrifices one makes in the pursuit of love, and the pain and heartbreak that often results. "Precio de castigo que uno entrega / por un beso que no llega / o un amor que lo engaño..." ("The price of punishment one gives / for a kiss that doesn't come / or a love that deceived...") reflects the desperation and loneliness of the person as they struggle to find the connection they crave. The final lines, "Si yo tuviera el corazón, / el mismo que perdí; / si olvidara a la que ayer / lo destrozó, / y pudiera amarte, / me abrazaría a tu ilusión / para llorar tu amor." ("If I had the heart, / the one I lost; / if I forgot the one / Who crushed it yesterday, / and I could love you, / I would hug your illusion / to cry for your love.") show the longing and regret of the person as they realize that their chance for love has passed them by.
Overall, the lyrics of Uno y Uno are a powerful expression of the human desire for love and connection, and the struggles we face in our pursuit of these things. The song's emotional intensity and powerful vocals have made it a classic of Latin American music, and it remains beloved by fans around the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Uno busca lleno de esperanzas
One searches hopefully for the path that dreams promised to their desires...
el camino que los sueños prometieron a sus ansias...
...the path that their aspirations were promised by their dreams.
Sabe que la lucha es cruel y es mucha
One knows that the struggle is cruel and intense...
pero lucha y se desangra
...but they fight and bleed for the stubborn faith within them.
por la fe que lo empecina.
For the faith that stubbornly drives them.
Uno va arrastrándose entre espinas
One drags themselves among thorns...
y en su afán por dar su amor...
...in their eagerness to give their love...
Sufre y se destroza hasta entender,
...they suffer and break until they understand that...
que uno se quedo sin corazón...
...they have lost their heart.
Precio de castigo que uno entrega
A price of punishment that one hands over...
por un beso que no llega
...for a kiss that never comes...
o un amor que lo engaño,
...or a love that deceived them...
vació ya de amar y de llorar
...now emptied of loving and crying...
tanta traición...
...by so much betrayal.
Si yo tuviera el corazón,
If I had the heart...
el mismo que perdÃ;
...the same one I lost;
si olvidara a la que ayer lo destrozo,
...if I could forget the one who tore it apart yesterday...
y pudiera amarte,
...and could love you...
me abrazarÃa a tu ilusión
...I would embrace your illusion...
para llorar tu amor.
...to weep for your love.
Pero Dios te trajo a mi destino
But God brought you to my fate...
sin pensar que ya es muy tarde
...without thinking it was already too late.
y no sabré como quererte,
...and I won't know how to love you...
déjame que llore como aquel
...let me weep like the one...
que sufre en vida
...who suffers in life...
la tortura de llorar su propia muerte.
...the torture of weeping for their own death.
Buena como eres salvarias
As good as you are, you would save...
mi esperanza con tu amor...
...my hope with your love...
Uno esta tan solo en su dolor,
One is so alone in their pain...
uno esta tan ciego en su penar...
...one is so blinded by their suffering...
Pero un frio cruel que es peor
But a cruel coldness that is worse...
que el odio, punto muerto
...than hate is a dead end...
de las almas, tumba horrenda
...of souls, a horrendous tomb...
de mi amor, maldijo para siempre
...of my love, cursed forever...
y me robo... toda ilusión...
...and stole from me...all hope...
Si yo tuviera el corazón,
If I had the heart...
el mismo que perdÃ;
...the same one I lost;
si olvidara a la que ayer lo destrozo,
...if I could forget the one who tore it apart yesterday...
y pudiera amarte,
...and could love you...
me abrazarÃa a tu ilusión
...I would embrace your illusion...
para llorar tu amor.
...to weep for your love.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Enrique Discepolo, Mariano Mores
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind