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Buscándote (1941)

Searching for You
lyrics by Eduardo Scalise

Wandering…
exhausted by my endless ambling,
the bitter sadness of being alone,
tremendously eager to arrive.

Perhaps you know…
that I have gone through life searching for you,
that I broke my dreams without meaning to,
that I left them behind at some crossroads.

I hurried my stride,
in the hope of finding you somewhere,
I strung together long roads,
I covered leagues and leagues.

After I have had a chance to rest
cradled in your arms,
if you prefer I will leave again
by the road I took yesterday…

Orquesta Osvaldo Fresedo, singer Ricardo Ruíz

(Spanish original after the jump)

Buscándote

Vagar…
con el cansancio de mi eterno andar,
tristeza amarga de la soledad
ansias enormes de llegar.

Sabrás…
que por la vida fui buscándote,
que mis ensueños sin querer rompí,
que en algún cruce los dejé.

Mi andar apresuré
con la esperanza de encontrarte a ti,
largos caminos hilvané
leguas y leguas recorrí.

Después que entre tus brazos
pueda descansar,
si lo prefieres volveré a marchar
por mi camino de ayer…

About Derrick Del Pilar

Born and raised in Chicago, I came to the tango while studying at the Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires in 2006. In 2008 I earned my B.A. with majors in Creative Writing and Spanish & Portuguese from the University of Arizona, and in 2009 I earned an M.A. in Latin American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. My specialty is the history & literature of early 20th century Argentina.

Discussion

12 thoughts on “Buscándote (1941)

  1. Well one tango that is close to me. How can explained. One day I broke whit my girlfriend and I took the bus. The driver was listening tangos and had radio loud and there it was Buscandote! I could’t stop my tears all the trip. I supose some lyrics are so close to the reality in anyones life that is to much to endure in that moment. Anyway thats what happen in any given day in Bs As Tango city. Cheers.

    Posted by Miguel | 09.20.2010, 11:15 AM
    • Yes. Anywhere in the world, as I always have tango songs with me, in my Ipod and my ears, my heart. I see that Tango is “happening” everywhere, everyday. One of the songs that send me crying when I dance.

      Posted by Kaiyu | 07.11.2011, 10:49 AM
  2. ‘Sin querer’ means ‘by mistake’, not ‘loveless’, i.e. Lo hice sin querer (I did it by mistake). So the more accurate translation would be somewhere along the lines of “by mistake I conquered by dreams”… Otherwise, great as always!

    Posted by Jaimito | 04.19.2011, 8:41 AM
    • Gracias Jaimito! I think I was stuck back on other tangos like “Como dos extraños”…”El corazón me suplicó que te buscara y que le diera su querer.” Uff, this is why I need a comments section so folks can catch me when I slip up!
      I think instead of “by mistake” I’ll go with “accidentally,” because I like the sound of the latter word much better ;).
      Gracias!

      Posted by poesiadegotan | 04.19.2011, 3:14 PM
      • Yes, accidentally sounds better… ah, translating is so difficult. Once you translate the verses, you may retain the meaning, but lose the poetry, la poesia de gotan. Tricky, tricky

        Posted by Jaimito | 04.20.2011, 2:15 AM
  3. Hello Derrick, I am pretty sure Ruiz doesn’t sing “que mis ensueños sin querer vencí” but “que mis ensueños sin querer rompí”, which makes much more sense to me. But I just started leaning Spanish, maybe I am mistaken …

    Posted by Mikel | 06.13.2015, 3:02 PM
    • You are quite correct, and it’s something that the other Spanish speakers who commented over the last few years missed as well! I’ve corrected the error in both the translation and the transcription of the original.
      Neither lyrics nor music for “Buscándote” are on TodoTango; I must have copied the lyrics from HermanoTango, where the transcription has “vencí.” Usually I do this and then listen to them, because many of HermanoTango’s transcriptions come from sheet music, and sometimes the words are slightly different as written than they are in the recording. Obviously, when translating this one I didn’t check! Thank you for catching this (my friend Terpsichoral Tangoaddict did as well, and messaged me privately about it). I’d be curious to see what the original sheet music says…

      Posted by Derrick Del Pilar | 06.13.2015, 6:44 PM

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The sound files on this site are included for illustrative purposes only. Those wishing to obtain high quality versions for their personal collections should purchase commercially available copies. If you can't get to a record store in Buenos Aires, a great many tangos are available, song by song, in meticulously digitized versions from http://www.tangotunes.com/ and others can be found on the iTunes music store or Amazon (transfer quality varies widely). Though he no longer has inventory available, Michael Lavocah's superb http://milonga.co.uk/ can help you determine which CDs might be best to buy used.
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