Lunfardo under the censors, 1943–49
From June 1943 the rules for Argentine radio were enforced to the letter: no “turns of phrase that debase the language”, lunfardo above all. Lyricists rewrote their tangos to stay on the air. Here are 10 rewrites a historian dates, each with the words it changed and the records to hear.
The rules and the rewrites, 1940–1955
1933
Radio rules let the Post Office police what stations broadcast; from 1935 they bar “turns of phrase that debase the language”.
April 1943
Moneda de cobre14 June 1943
The rules are enforced to the letter; stations receive lists of words to replace.
June 1943
Farolito de papelSeptember 1943
Que nunca me falte1944
Cruz de paloApril 1945
Adiós muchachosMarch 1947
Sentimiento gaucho15 February 1949
Mi noche triste25 March 1949
Tango’s musicians meet Perón and radio censorship ends in practice. No rule lifts it, and SADAIC goes on checking lyrics.
December 1949
Al pie de la Santa Cruz13 October 1953
Control of lyrics officially ends.
The rewrites
April 1943
Moneda de cobre
- was
borrachobecamebuen mozo
Before the rules · Ricardo Tanturi · Alberto Castillo 1942
Under the rules · Lucio Demare · Raúl Berón 1943
- was
June 1943
Tal vez será mi alcohol → Tal vez será su voz
- was
fueyebecamepiano
Song page: Tal vez será mi alcohol · Song page: Tal vez será su voz · Sued, p. 35
- was
June 1943
Farolito de papel
- was
gruposbecamecuentos - was
patobecamepobre - was
me ensartébecameme engañé
- was
September 1943
Que nunca me falte
The third verse, a threat of revenge, was cut.
1944
Cruz de palo
- was
besuqueó labecamesobre aquella
- was
April 1945
Adiós muchachos
- was
farrasbecamefiestas
Before the rules · Francisco Canaro · Roberto Maida 1938
Under the rules · Enrique Rodríguez · Armando Moreno 1945
- was
1946
Oro muerto → Jirón porteño
- was
curdabecamealegre - was
maldice al Redentorbecamese siente payador
- was
March 1947
Sentimiento gaucho
- was
borrachobecamepaisano - was
tras un hombrebecametras un sueño
- was
15 February 1949
Mi noche triste
- was
percantabecamemuchacha - was
me amurastebecameme dejaste
Before the rules · Francisco Canaro · Roberto Maida 1936
Under the rules · Florindo Sassone · Jorge Casal 1949
- was
December 1949
Al pie de la Santa Cruz
Recorded with very different words in December 1949, nine months after the meeting with Perón.
Before the rules · Típica Victor · Alberto Gómez 1933
Under the rules · Alfredo De Angelis · Carlos Dante 1949
Did the slang disappear?
Less than the stories say, and it came back. In the songs recorded with a singer, lunfardo was already rare before the rules; under them its share barely moved, and after 1949 it rose.
Share of the songs recorded with a singer whose lyrics, as written, use a word from Tangopedia’s lunfardo glossary (84 words; tango’s own words such as compadrón or milonguero left out). As written, not as sung: a record made under the rules sang the rewritten words. Each period counts a song once; the gold line is the 95% interval. We hold the lyrics of about a third of the songs recorded with a singer, too few to read year by year.
Source for every date and rewrite: Emiliano Sued, “Sobre censura y corrección en las letras de tango”, Revista Argentina de Musicología 15–16 (2014–2015).