Por eso vengo a cantar · Juan D'Arienzo · 1961

Español · Underlined words are lunfardo: tap one for its meaning.

Yo puse toda mi vida cuando al compás de la viola Canté con toda la gola pa´ esa barra de mi flor, Ellos me dieron calor cuando en los viejos Corrales Desparramaba a raudales mi destino de cantor. Esa barra que yo tengo allá por La Paternal No puede tomar a mal lo que ha sido un simple olvido, Si ellos tanto me han seguido, cómo les iba a fallar Este tango me faltaba, por eso vengo a cantar. Hoy que tengo bien templada Mi garganta y la guitarra, Rindo homenaje a la barra Que siempre me ha sido fiel. Yo soy el cantor aquel Que anduvo en cien entreveros, Allá por los Mataderos Por Villa Crespo y Liniers. Cuántas veces por las noches Los muchachos de Belgrano, Me vieron cantar, hermano Al pie de un viejo balcón. Siempre tuve una canción Pa´ la piba quinceañera, Y pa´ esa barra diquera Mi sensiblera emoción. Este tango tiene el alma de aquellos barrios porteños Donde crecieron mis sueños y mis ansias de cantor, Yo conozco el fervor de mi barra compañera En este tango quisiera dejarles mi corazón. Yo sé que son mis amigos los muchachos del arrabal Y la piba de percal del suburbio más lejano, Por eso les canto, hermano, al compás de la guitarra Este tango es pa´ mi barra, por eso vengo a cantar.

English · machine translation

I put my whole life in when, to the beat of the guitar, I sang at the top of my voice for that fine crowd of mine, They gave me warmth when in the old Corrales I poured out in torrents my destiny as a singer. That crowd of mine over in La Paternal Can't take it badly, what has been a simple forgetting, If they've followed me so much, how could I fail them This tango was missing, and so I've come to sing. Today when I've got well tuned My throat and my guitar, I pay homage to the crowd That has always been faithful to me. I'm that singer Who went through a hundred scrapes, Over in Mataderos In Villa Crespo and Liniers. How many times at night The lads of Belgrano, Saw me singing, brother, At the foot of an old balcony. I always had a song For the girl of fifteen, And for that showy crowd My sentimental feeling. This tango has the soul of those Buenos Aires neighborhoods Where my dreams and my longings as a singer grew, I know the fervour of my companion crowd In this tango I'd like to leave them my heart. I know that the lads of the outskirts are my friends And the girl in percale of the farthest suburb, And so I sing to them, brother, to the beat of the guitar This tango is for my crowd, and that's why I've come to sing.