Los mareados (1942)

The Lushes*
lyrics by Enrique Cadícamo

Strange,
almost fired up,
I found you drinking,
beautiful and terrible…
You were drinking
and amidst the champagne’s clamor,
you were laughing like a madwoman
so you wouldn’t cry…
It hurt
to find you there
since when I looked at you
I saw, girl,**
your eyes
filled with an electric fire,
your beautiful eyes that I adored so much…

Tonight, dear friend,
alcohol has intoxicated us…
Who cares if they laugh at us
and call us ‘the lushes’?
Everyone has their troubles
and we have some of our own…
Tonight we will drink
because we know
we’ll never see each other again…

Today you’ll journey into my past,
all my life that has passed…
My wounded soul contains three things:
love…regret…sorrow…
Today you’ll journey into my past,
and today we’ll take another path…
Our love has meant so much…
and yet still…oh!
Look what’s left of it!

The verses in italics are not sung in the Troilo/Fiorentino version.

*”Mareado” (lit. “dizzy”) in Spanish is a slightly softer term for “drunk.” The standard, unmarked term for a drunkard is “borracho.” Another popular term in tango, which is in the title of another song that I have yet to translate, is “encopa’o.” (Lit., “in his cups.”)
**In most versions, with the exception of Troilo’s, the lyric is “I saw them shining—your eyes…”

Orquesta Aníbal Troilo, singer Francisco Fiorentino

Astor Piazzolla (Octeto Buenos Aires) (instrumental)

Orquesta Color Tango de Roberto Álvarez (instrumental)

Mercedes Sosa (live)

Juan Carlos Cáceres

(Spanish original after the jump)

Los mareados

Rara,
como encendida,
te hallé bebiendo,
linda y fatal…
Bebías
y entre el fragor del champán,
loca, reías
por no llorar…
Pena
me dio encontrarte
pues al mirarte
ya vi brillar (mujer)*
tus ojos
con un eléctrico ardor,
tus lindos ojos que tanto adoré…

Esta noche, amiga mía,
el alcohol nos ha embriagado…
¡Qué importa que se rían
y nos llamen los mareados!
Cada cual tiene sus penas
y nosotros las tenemos…
Esta noche beberemos
porque ya no volveremos
a vernos más…

Hoy vas a entrar en mi pasado,
en el pasado de mi vida…
Tres cosas lleva mi alma herida:
amor… pesar… dolor…
Hoy vas a entrar en mi pasado
y hoy nuevas sendas tomaremos…
¡Qué grande ha sido nuestro amor!…
Y, sin embargo, ¡ay!,
mirá lo que quedó…