El Cambalache

Subject: El Cambalache
From: Jack Campin
Date: 21 Jul 17 - 07:02 PM

I came across a description of this tango song in Brian Winter's book Long After Midnight at the Niño Bien, but only just got around to looking it up. It would make a great anthem for Theresa May's England.

Written by Enrique Santos Discépolo in 1935. I think it was first sung by Julio Sosa, whose film performance in this clip is a great piece of dramatic song delivery - unlike Gardel, who was compulsively charming, Sosa threatens to punch you in the face straight through the screen. It's like a scene out of the best Hollywood cinema of the era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0kTiKCC3UI

Lyrics here, with literal translation. It would be nice to have a singable English-language version but those extraordinary tonguetwisters would be a bugger to do in any other language. Somebody like Ian Dury might have pulled it off.

https://letrasdetango.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/cambalache/

Score:

http://anclasol.com/AS/Prog/BDalm_docs/images/99002600_1331300455.pdf

Subject: RE: El Cambalache
From: leeneia
Date: 22 Jul 17 - 04:33 PM

Thanks. I listened, kept waiting for the intro to stop and the dance music to begin, but it never did.

Subject: RE: El Cambalache
From: Jack Campin
Date: 23 Jul 17 - 07:17 AM

There is a lot more to tango than danceability. This is far from being the only tango song to make a serious statement.

Subject: RE: El Cambalache
From: leeneia
Date: 23 Jul 17 - 11:53 PM

What I meant is that many older songs have two parts, a talky introduction and then a more fluid part. This one doesn't do it.