Poesía de gotán: The Poetry of the Tango

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Es mejor perdonar (1942)

It’s Better to Forgive

lyrics by José María Contrusi
music by Pedro Laurenz

I forgave her when she came back
because I carried in my heart
the very altar where my soul had suffered.
How many sorrows must have tormented
my poor dear in her desolation!

I was speechless when I saw her…
I wanted to cry…and I smiled;
and as she threw herself sobbing into my arms,
they fell to pieces–
all the phantoms of my desperation.

How many times did I think: “It’s better to forgive
than to weep over a love and to want to forget!”
One evening she left without saying goodbye
I don’t know if I cried…I only know she came back!

The night lit up every streetlight in blue
and in my heart, the night was always you…
When I saw her again, my soul said a prayer.
I don’t know if I cried…I only know she came back!

I told her, “My love, don’t cry anymore!”
And my loneliness dressed up
in the blue of those beloved eyes.
What does the past matter
if in my live I have only learned to love?

Afterwards…I don’t know if she left me…
if she was ever here…if she forgot me…
I only know that, once again, my soul
writhes in agony
because I know she’ll never come back again.

Orquesta Pedro Laurenz, singer Alberto Del Campo (1942)

(Spanish original after the jump)

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