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Song

Malena · Hugo Diaz · 1972

Music by Lucio Demare, lyrics by Homero Manzi. 15 recordings in our catalogue, 1942–2001.
1942: 2 · danced 70 times1950: 1 · danced 0 times1951: 2 · danced 0 times1952: 1 · danced 0 times1955: 1 · danced 2 times1957: 1 · danced 0 times1965: 2 · danced 0 times1968: 1 · danced 16 times1972: 1 · danced 12 times1974: 1 · danced 23 times1998: 1 · danced 9 times2001: 1 · danced 0 times
1942’50’60’70’80’902001
records madedanced on film, by the record’s year· our catalogue

1942: 2, 70; 1950: 1, 0; 1951: 2, 0; 1952: 1, 0; 1955: 1, 2; 1957: 1, 0; 1965: 2, 0; 1968: 1, 16; 1972: 1, 12; 1974: 1, 23; 1998: 1, 9; 2001: 1, 0

  1. Aníbal Troilo recorded it in 1942 and 1952. One other orchestra recorded it more than once.

    How we know

    Takes in our catalogue by the same orchestra in different years; the canon’s first orchestra is named.

Credit

Music
Lucio Demare
Lyrics
Homero Manzi

Source: TangoCloud catalogue

Every recording

15 recordings · our catalogue, dances filmed on TangoTube · 31 more we know of

1940’50’60’70’80’90’00

Choose A and B on two recordings to hear them one after the other.

  1. Aníbal TroiloEarliest we holdFrancisco Fiorentino · RCA Victor · Jan 8
    22 dances
    1942
  2. Aníbal TroiloRaúl Berón · TK
    Not danced on film yet
    1952
  3. Osvaldo PuglieseInstrumental · Odeon · Dec 11
    23 dances
    1974
  4. Miguel CalóRaúl del Mar, Héctor Gagliardi, Roberto Luque · Odeon Colombia
    Not danced on film yet
    1965
  5. Miguel CalóRoberto Luque · Odeon Colombia
    Not danced on film yet
    1965
  6. Lucio DemareMost dancedJuan Carlos Miranda · Odeon · Jan 23
    48 dances
    1942
  7. Lucio DemareHéctor Alvarado · Columbia · Sep 20
    Not danced on film yet
    1951
  8. Lucio DemareDisc Jockey
    Not danced on film yet
    1957
  9. Francisco CanaroJuan Carlos Rolon · Odeon · Aug 2
    2 dances
    1955
  10. Color Tango (Roberto Alvarez)
    9 dances
    1998
  11. Roberto GoyenecheApr 10
    16 dances
    1968
  12. Hugo Diaz
    12 dances
    1972
  13. Horacio Salgan y Ubaldo De LioMelopea · Dec 1
    Not danced on film yet
    2001
  14. Puglia-PedrozaFrancisco Fiorentino
    Not danced on film yet
    1951
  15. Quintin VerduLucio Lamberto · Dec 12
    Not danced on film yet
    1950
  16. -unspecified guitars-Not in our catalogueAzucena Maizani1942
  17. -unspecified orchestra-Not in our catalogueEdmundo Rivero1961
  18. Lucio DemareNot in our catalogueJul 301968
  19. Rosanna FalascaNot in our catalogue1982
  20. Rosaura SilvestreNot in our catalogue1995

Lyrics

Español

Malena canta el tango como ninguna y en cada verso pone su corazón. A yuyo del suburbio su voz perfuma, Malena tiene pena de bandoneón. Tal vez allá en la infancia su voz de alondra tomó ese tono oscuro de callejón, o acaso aquel romance que sólo nombra cuando se pone triste con el alcohol. Malena canta el tango con voz de sombra, Malena tiene pena de bandoneón. Tu canción tiene el frío del último encuentro. Tu canción se hace amarga en la sal del recuerdo. Yo no sé si tu voz es la flor de una pena, sólo sé que al rumor de tus tangos, Malena, te siento más buena, más buena que yo. Tus ojos son oscuros como el olvido, tus labios apretados como el rencor, tus manos dos palomas que sienten frío, tus venas tienen sangre de bandoneón. Tus tangos son criaturas abandonadas que cruzan sobre el barro del callejón, cuando todas las puertas están cerradas y ladran los fantasmas de la canción. Malena canta el tango con voz quebrada, Malena tiene pena de bandoneón.

English · machine translation

Malena sings tango like no other and in each verse she puts her heart. Her voice is perfumed with the scent of the suburbs, Malena has the sorrow of a bandoneon. Maybe back in her childhood her lark's voice took that dark tone of the alley, or perhaps that romance that she only mentions when she gets sad with alcohol. Malena sings the tango with a shadowy voice, Malena has the sorrow of a bandoneon. Your song has the cold of the last encounter. Your song becomes bitter in the salt of memory. I do not know if your voice is the flower of a sorrow, I only know that to the murmur of your tangos, Malena, I feel you better, better than me. Your eyes are dark as oblivion, your lips tight as rancor, your hands two doves that feel cold, your veins have bandoneon blood. Your tangos are abandoned creatures that cross over the mud of the alley, when all the doors are closed and the ghosts of the song bark. Malena sings the tango with a broken voice, Malena has the sorrow of a bandoneon.

Danced to it

Music from 1972 · danced on film 2013–2025

20132025
By the year it was danced; each dance counts once, however many channels filmed it

2013: 1, 2016: 1, 2019: 2, 2023: 1, 2024: 1, 2025: 1

From TangoTube's videos · our data

What we don't know yet3 of 5 known

The day it was recorded, the record label.

Data: recordings, facts and sources

No published facts yet. Facts appear here, each with its source, as they are collected.

Listen

  1. MalenaAníbal Troilo · Francisco Fiorentino1942

Ask Tangopedia

Answers only from cited facts, each with its source.