Known as "Pirincho" Canaro, he had a career that spanned many decades, and his orchestra was one of the most recorded. Much of his recorded music is in the classic salon style of the 1940s, but he is also considered a member of the old guard, and some of his later recordings contributed to the transition to concert tango. For many contemporary dancers and listeners, his early golden age recordings are the best.
Canaro composed the music for the 1915 Argentine classic, Nobleza gaucha.
Milonga de Mis Amores
Francisco Canaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
engarzada en los acordes de una Iírica guitarra...
Sos milonga de otros tiempos... Yo te vi crecer
prendida en las polleras de un bailongo guapo y rompedor
como jamás ha de volver.
Nadie, tal vez,
comprendió mejor las penas y el sentir de mi barriada...
tan sólo una guitarra te recuerda, criolla como vos,
y en su gemir tiembla mi ser.
Vuelvo cansado de todo
y en mi corazón lloran los años...
Mi vida busca tan sólo
la tranquilidad del viejo barrio...
Y encuentro todo cambiado menos tu canción, milonga mía...
El progreso ha destrozado toda la emoción
de mi arrabal.
Quiero olvidar
y tus notas van llenando de tristeza el alma mía...
He cruzado tantas veces ese callejón,
llevando entre los labios un silbido alegre y tu cantar
emborrachando el corazón.
Era feliz
entregado a las caricias de la única sincera
que acunó una primavera que no floreció...
Milonga, ya no puedo continuar... El llanto me venció...
Quiero olvidar... y pienso más.
The lyrics of "Milonga de mis amores" by Francisco Canaro capture a mood of nostalgia and emotional pain, as the singer reflects on a bygone era and a lost love. The opening lines speak of hearing a voice "engraved in the chords of a lyrical guitar," signaling the immediate importance of sound and music in this song's emotional landscape. The singer then addresses the subject of the song - a milonga, a specific type of folk dance and song that flourished in Buenos Aires in the early 20th century. The milonga is described as a creature of a previous era, having grown up "attached to the skirts of a brave, rebellious dance," a reference to the tumultuous social and cultural history of this period in Argentina.
The singer's relationship with the milonga is complex; it is presented as a thing of beauty and a reminder of a vibrant past, but also a source of sadness and pain. The milonga is portrayed as something that truly understood the singer's community and its struggles, but that has been forgotten or lost in the march of "progress" represented by the changing neighborhood. The final stanza of the song finds the singer overcome with sorrow as he struggles to continue talking about the milonga, eventually admitting defeat and simply wishing to forget. This all adds up to a powerful statement about the importance of cultural heritage, memory, and what is lost in the never-ending march of time.
Line by Line Meaning
Oigo tu voz
I hear your voice
engarzada en los acordes de una lÃrica guitarra...
set within the chords of a poetic guitar...
Sos milonga de otros tiempos... Yo te vi crecer
You are milonga from other times… I saw you grow
prendida en las polleras de un bailongo guapo y rompedor
stuck in the skirts of a handsome and daring dance
como jamás ha de volver.
as it will never happen again
Nadie, tal vez, comprendió mejor las penas y el sentir de mi barriada...
No one, maybe, understood the sorrows and feelings of my neighborhood better...
Sin embargo te olvidaron y en el callejón
However, they forgot you and in the alleyway
tan sólo una guitarra te recuerda, criolla como vos,
only a guitar reminds you, Creole like you,
y en su gemir tiembla mi ser.
and in its moaning my being trembles.
Vuelvo cansado de todo
I come back tired of everything
y en mi corazón lloran los años...
and the years cry in my heart...
Mi vida busca tan sólo
My life seeks only
la tranquilidad del viejo barrio...
the tranquility of the old neighborhood...
Y encuentro todo cambiado menos tu canción, milonga mÃa...
And I find everything changed except for your song, my milonga...
El progreso ha destrozado toda la emoción
The progress has destroyed all the emotion
de mi arrabal.
of my slum.
Quiero olvidar
I want to forget
y tus notas van llenando de tristeza el alma mÃa...
and your notes are filling my soul with sadness...
He cruzado tantas veces ese callejón,
I have crossed that alleyway so many times,
llevando entre los labios un silbido alegre y tu cantar
whistling joyfully and your singing
emborrachando el corazón.
intoxicated my heart.
Era feliz
I was happy
entregado a las caricias de la única sincera
given to the caresses of the only sincere one
que acunó una primavera que no floreció...
that cradled a spring that did not bloom…
Milonga, ya no puedo continuar... El llanto me venció...
Milonga, I can't continue anymore... The tears overcame me...
Quiero olvidar... y pienso más.
I want to forget... and I think more.
Contributed by Colton K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Alexander Zuyev
on Milonga brava (feat. Roberto Maida)
(Thanks to Jeremiah I discovered another meaning of this great song. Also, being a tango dancer myself I can see in the lyrics another dimension, another layer and a more literal meaning which I want to contribute. The more interpretations the lyrics can provide the greater it is.)
Yo soy la milonga brava
I am the fierce milonga, full of energy and passion.
Candombera y entradora.
I am a candombe-style milonga, seductive and captivating.
Yo soy la expresión sonora
I am the sound expression
Que el progreso deshilacha,
That my skills as a tango dancer as well as my looks are worn-out
Canción me hizo una muchacha
But the song has made me a young girl again
De boca fresca y golosa.
With fresh, luscious and lickerish mouth
Y me bailó en la baldosa
And that was actually me who danced on the roof tiles
Quebrada del conventillo,
Dropped down the roof of a tenement building
Con el mozo del altillo
With a dreamboat from an attic
A quien le dio el corazón.
To whom I gave my heart.