Julio María Sosa Venturini (February 2, 1926 – November 26, 1964), usually … Read Full Bio ↴Julio María Sosa Venturini (February 2, 1926 – November 26, 1964), usually referred to simply as Julio Sosa or El Varón del Tango, was an Uruguayan tango singer.
Sosa was born in Las Piedras, a Canelones Department suburb of Montevideo, Uruguay. He moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1949, where became famous with Enrique Francini and Armando Pontier's Orquesta típica. Working with numerous other orchestras, he was reunited with Pontier in 1955, with whom he recorded several best-selling albums on the RCA Victor and Columbia labels and became one of the most important tango singers in the genre's history.
He married Nora Ulfed in 1958 and had a daughter. His marriage ended in separation, however, and he settled into a relationship with Susana Merighi. Nicknamed El Varón del Tango ("the man's man of tango"), Sosa also published a book of poetry, Dos horas antes del alba ("Two Hours Before the Dawn"), in 1960. Following his switch to Columbia Records in 1961, the Pontier orchestra incorporated a new bandoneonist, Leopoldo Federico, and the association helped make the group the most successful in its genre, at the time.
Sosa's fame acquainted him with sports cars, as well. He suffered numerous accidents during the early 1960s, mostly as a result of speeding. He was behind the wheel of a DKW coupé when, in the early hours of November 25, 1964, he crashed into a roadside hazard light on Buenos Aires' Figueroa Alcorta Avenue, killing him instantly at age 38.

Destellos
Julio Sosa Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Para ahogar hondas penas que tengo,
que me matan y que no se van,
yo levanto temblando en mis manos
esta copa de rubio champán.
Los invito conmigo a beber
que bebiendo se habrán de olvidar
los destellos de amores perdidos
que suelen los ojos de llanto nublar.

Yo he sabido otras veces beber
en la fuente de sus labios rojos
y la luz de sus lánguidos ojos
muchas noches de amor me embriagó.
Pero, amigos, ella me olvidó
y en el fino cristal de esta copa
me parece que veo la boca
que mil veces mi boca besó.

En mi alma quedaron destellos
de ese amor que no se irá jamás
pues, por más que lo intento, no puedo
esa luz que me quema apagar.
Si esta noche borracho me ven
a mí mismo me quiero engañar

y es por eso que, amigos, invito:
Bebamos, me quiero aturdir con champán.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Julio Sosa's song "Destellos" express the singer's personal struggles with deep, lingering pain caused by lost love. To cope with these painful memories, he turns to the temporary relief of drinking champagne. He invites his friends to join him in this endeavor, hoping that they too will be able to forget any lost loves that linger in their hearts. The singer reflects on his past experiences, reminiscing about the times when he was lost in love, consumed by passion and desire. However, now he is left with nothing but memories, which are reflected in the "destellos" or sparkles of light that his teary eyes see through his champagne glass.

Line by Line Meaning

Para ahogar hondas penas que tengo, que me matan y que no se van,
To drown deep sorrows that I have, sorrows that kill me and don't go away,

yo levanto temblando en mis manos esta copa de rubio champán.
I tremblingly raise this glass of golden champagne in my hands.

Los invito conmigo a beber que bebiendo se habrán de olvidar los destellos de amores perdidos que suelen los ojos de llanto nublar.
I invite you to drink with me, by drinking we will forget the flashes of lost loves that usually cloud the eyes with tears.

Yo he sabido otras veces beber en la fuente de sus labios rojos y la luz de sus lánguidos ojos muchas noches de amor me embriagó.
I have known how to drink from the fountain of her red lips before and the light of her languid eyes has drunk many nights of love with me.

Pero, amigos, ella me olvidó y en el fino cristal de esta copa me parece que veo la boca que mil veces mi boca besó.
But my friends, she forgot about me and in the fine glass of this cup, it seems to me that I see the mouth that my mouth kissed a thousand times.

En mi alma quedaron destellos de ese amor que no se irá jamás pues, por más que lo intento, no puedo esa luz que me quema apagar.
In my soul, there were flashes of that love that will never go away because, no matter how hard I try, I can't extinguish that burning light.

Si esta noche borracho me ven a mí mismo me quiero engañar y es por eso que, amigos, invito: Bebamos, me quiero aturdir con champán.
If you see me drunk tonight, I want to deceive myself and that's why, friends, I invite you: Let's drink, I want to get dizzy with champagne.

Contributed by Henry D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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