poesía de gotán:
About the Translator

Tango found Derrick Del Pilar in 2006, when he was living (and studying abroad) in Buenos Aires, in a small apartment a few blocks from Evaristo Carriego’s house. His first teacher was Lidia Ferrari, and despite the vociferous dissatisfaction expressed by the first lady he managed to cabeceo in Salón Canning, he has immersed himself in tango ever since. Currently he lives with his husband and dogs in Portland, OR.

He holds a B.A. from the University of Arizona with a double major in Spanish & Portuguese and Creative Writing, and an M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley—with a focus on the history and literature of Argentina in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Derrick is a thoughtful tango DJ who has shared tandas of music by the Golden Age maestros and lectured on tango lyrics at festivals, marathons, and local milongas around the U.S., including in his native Chicago, Houston, Albuquerque, Tucson, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Eugene, Boise, Portland, and Seattle.

Discussion

15 thoughts on “About the Translator”

  1. Great site Derrick…Thanks so much…your translations are really beautiful.Well done!
    abrazos desde Woodstock,
    Ilene

    Posted by Ilene Marder | 04.28.2010, 4:31 PM
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    • Hi Derrick,

      Finally I found a site which serves my tango translations so beautifully. Couldn’t find some songs but found majority. Wonderful translations. Thank you very much indeed.

      Yasminx

      Posted by Yasmin Shawkat | 08.11.2011, 6:32 PM
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  2. Estimado Derrick lindo trabajo felicitaciones y gracias. Un chileno en Australia.

    ps: Te agradeceria mucho si me consigues el tango Viejo Ciego (letra y musica para tocarla en guitarra) he buscado esta cancion por mucho tiempo, encuentro la letra pero no la musica or acordes en guitarra. Chao y de gracias nuevamente.

    Posted by Hernan Martinez | 06.03.2010, 6:46 AM
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    • Gracias por tus palabras Hernan, y lo siento pero no sé donde se podrían conseguir partituras/acordes para tocar este tango en la guitarra :(.

      Posted by poesiadegotan | 08.09.2010, 9:51 PM
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  3. Mr. Derrick : I think that you deserve gran agradecimiento por the argentine people. Nobody got the inspiration to do semejante translation respetando el espíritu and the poetry of the original letter.- Thank you and a send you a gran abrazo from Rosario a very tanguera city .-

    Posted by zicarelli humberto francisco | 07.13.2010, 11:48 PM
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  4. I am delighted by your posts on tango lyrics. Here allow me to point out, con permiso, the recent news about the true wordsmith of Con los amigos. It seems as if it is not Almafuerte but Sebastián Alfredo Robles who wrote it. Source TodoTango.com. Yours, René

    Posted by René | 07.20.2010, 6:20 PM
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  5. Hi Derrick

    Just came across your website by chance. Thank you for your translations of these beautiful Tangos

    Posted by Rena | 03.02.2011, 5:25 PM
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  6. Muchos gracias for your translation of Bajo un cielo de estrellas, Derrick!

    Posted by Richard deSousa | 04.15.2011, 6:46 PM
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  7. Hola Derrick; Si me parece que te conozco desde mucho tiempo, porque?, bueno tu pasion[igual que la mia] por el tango, en cualquier forma. Un dia te dije, que el tango llama y algo dentro nuestro responde. Las razones son muchas y variadas, pero una simple razon seria que el tango es parte inseparable de nuestras vidas. Bueno tus traducciones muy acertadas, como siempre y le haces un gran servicio al mundo del tango en general. Siempre adelante, te seguimos siempre.

    Posted by Miguel Angel Pietragallo | 04.19.2011, 6:54 AM
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  8. Derrrick your translations have been a great delight for my listeners to my weekly tango music show on our public radio station , KHEN 106.9 FM here in Salida, Colorado. Each week I pick a piece that you have translated and read it on air, and play three versions of it. Your translations enrich our understanding and enjoyment of tango. Thank you!

    Posted by dvorame | 03.15.2012, 9:23 AM
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  9. Many many thanks for great and enriching translation. Is it possible to translate my favorite vals: Violetas as sung by Alberto Castillo. thanks a lot in advance.

    Posted by Moustapha | 06.08.2016, 3:09 PM
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  10. Hi Derrick,

    Thanks for all your translations. It gives me a better understanding of this beautiful music!
    Have you translated el corazon al sur? It is one of my favourite songs. I have read a couple of translations in English and Dutch, but the text still makes no sense. Do you understand what it is about? As far as I understand it, the singers neighbourhood sucks and she wants to get out, but later it is all abouthow wonderful it is!
    Bye,

    Kim

    Posted by Kim | 12.23.2020, 6:56 AM
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  11. I searched the lyrics for Solamente Ella after watching the actual video from Tango Bardo and I found this Site…Great 👏👏👏👏 absolutely Great to read a translation with heart in it, Thanks a lot 🙏🙏🙏
    If the COVID Shit is overcome, please come somedays to Frankfurt, Germany to https://frankfurt-tango-society.org/ to La Nochecita, La Tardecita…

    Posted by Markus | 07.12.2021, 4:20 AM
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  12. Hey Derrick, I just found this fantastic website, are you still keeping it updated? I would love to contribute in some ways, maybe suggesting some tangos! Great job! 🙂

    Posted by Tana | 08.19.2023, 5:29 AM
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Disclaimer

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.