Here's an odd bird: a hopeful tango, "Como el hornero." Appearing in early 1944, with radio censorship in full sway, the song has not a hint of the forbidden Lunfardo slang. And despite a healthy shot of tango melancholia, there's a ray of hope at the end. However, that last, hopeful verse—a kind of Hollywood ending—isn't sung in any of the recorded versions I know, neither D'Agostino w/ Vargas, Biagi w/Amor, nor Laurenz w/Podestá. That's tango for ya.
About the bird of the title: "Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus) is a medium-sized ovenbird in the family Furnariidae. It occurs in eastern South America, and is the national bird in Argentina and Uruguay....The species is monogamous and the pair bond is long term, sometimes for life. The nest of the species is typical for the genus, a large thick clay "oven" placed on a tree, or man made structures such as fenceposts, telephone poles or buildings." (text and pic from Wikipedia)
For this post, I'll trying alternating the Spanish and English on each stanza. See what you think. (Typepad doesn't offer side-by-side, two-column layouts as far as I can tell, so I'm still searching for the right format.) Full lyrics from TodoTango.com plus Tango Decoder's English version after the bump.
Como el hornero
(Like the ovenbird)
Tango
1944
Music: Manuel Sucher
Lyric: José Rótulo
Hace su nido el hornero
a lo largo del camino,
por sostén teniendo un poste,
el motivo es el amor.
Y si manos traicioneras
le destruyen el abrigo,
al otro día, contento,
levanta un nido mejor.
The hornero makes its nest
along the roadside
taking a post for support,
the reason is love.
And if treacherous hands
destroy that haven,
the next day, merrily,
it builds an even better nest.
Yo también, como el hornero,
tuve mi abrigo.
Y la mano del destino
lo destruyó.
Al igual que el pajarito,
quedé sin nido,
agobiado por la pena
de mi dolor.
I, too, like the hornero,
had my haven,
And the hand of destiny
tore it apart.
Just like the little bird,
I was left without a nest,
overwhelmed by the anguish
of my grief.
No ha de ser mi noche larga,
tal vez brille en mi sendero,
una estrella de esperanza
con un rayo de ilusión.
Y algún día en mi camino,
al igual que el pobre hornero,
he de hallar un pecho amigo
que me de su corazón.
My night doesn't have to be a long one,
maybe in my path
a guiding star will shine
with a ray of hope.
And someday on my journey,
just like the poor hornero,
I’m bound to find a compassionate soul
who'll give her heart to me.
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