La Cumparsita, for some reason, is one of the most popular tangos of all times. It is so popular, that the tradition is to play it always as the last song of any milonga and some times the first and the last one. Agreed that it’s one of the most ancient tango creations that is still around: La cumparsita was written in 1917, so just it’s got age on it’s side:
Quoting from Wikipedia
La Cumparsita is a musical piece written by Uruguayan musician Gerardo Matos Rodríguez in 1917. It is one of the most famous and recognizable tango songs of all time. The title translates as “The little parade” and the original lyrics begin: “The little parade of endless miseries…”
It was composed in the music room of Club Nacional de Football, and played for the first time in Confitería La Giralda, a cafeteria located where the Palacio Salvo now stands in downtown Montevideo.
…. the complete wiki …
Frankly, It is not my favorite tango song… and by a large margin. I like some renditions of it, especially the really erratic one by , but even these are not my favorites. I tried to dig up some history about how this plain piece of music ended up being so popular… And found some really interesting history behind it.
Apparently, Gerardo was a teenager and struggling student of architecture when he wrote La Cumparsita as a marching song for an upcoming celebration and sold it to Roberto Firpo for a petty sum of 20 pesos. After a short stint of lukewarm popularity it died away. But it seems it became a big hit after it’s original lyrics (”La Cumparsita de miserias sin fin…”) were changed by the lyricists Enrique Maroni and Pascual Contursi to “Si supieras que aun dentro de mi alma…” and the song was re-recorded and released (without Gerardo’s consent) as “Si Supieras”, the standard version you will hear everywhere (And which is now known as “La Cumparsita - Si Supieras”). There have been multiple lawsuits between various people based on the copyrights of this song. For the whole story, check out this page. Here are the original lyrics of La cumparsita as written by Gerardo (and as always my humble attempt at translation):
La Cumparsita
La Cumparsita
De miserias sin fin
desfila
en torno de aquel ser enfermo
qe pronto ha de morir
de pena
por eso
es que en su lecho
solloza acongojado
reconrdando el pasado
que lo hace padecer |
The Little Masquerade
The little masquerade
of endless miseries
parades
around that sickly being
that soon will have died
of shame.
That’s why
on his (death) bed
he sobs, grieving
remembering the past
that causes him this suffering. |
Clearly, these lyrics neither are very romantic (an quality that characterizes tango lyrics) nor represent a wonderful peace of poetry that would absolve the pessimism and lack of romance. Now, here is the new incarnation “La Cumparsita Si supieras” engendered by Maroni and Contursi:
La Cumparsita (Si Supieras)
Si supieras
Que aún dentro de mi alma
Conservo aquel cariño
Que tuve para ti…!
Quién sabe, si supieras
Que nunca te he olvidado…!
Volviendo a tu pasado
Te acordarás de mí? ..
Los amigos ya no vienen
Ni siquiera a visitarme;
Nadie quiere consolarme
En mi aflicción;
Desde el día que te fuiste
Siento angustias en mi pecho;
Decí, percanta, qué has hecho
De mi pobre corazón!
Sin embargo
Yo siempre te recuerdo
Con el cariño santo
Que tuve para ti;
Y estás dentro de mi alma,
Pedazo de mi vida,
En la ilusión querida
Que nunca olvidar?
Al cotorro abandonado
Ya ni el sol de la mañana
Asoma por la ventana,
Como cuando estabas vos…
Y aquel perrito compañero
Que por tu ausencia no coma
Al verme solo, el otro día,
También me dejó… |
The Masquerade (If you knew)
If you only knew
that within my soul even now,
I sustain that fondness,
that I had for you…!
Who knows, if you knew
that I have never forgotten you!
Returning to your past,
you would remember me?
My friends don’t come over anymore,
Not even to visit me,
No one wants to console me,
in my affliction.
From the day that you left,
I feel anguish in my chest,
Tell me, woman, what have you
done with my poor heart.
Yet, I always remember you
with the blessed fondness
that I had for you.
And you are inside my soul,
a chunk of my life,
in a beloved illusion,
that won’t be forgotten.
In the neglected apartment,
Now the morning sun doesn’t peep in,
through the window,
like when you were here,
And that companion puppy,
who has stopped eating
due to your absence,
saw me alone the other day
and he left me too… |
Now, ignoring the limitedness of my translation abilities, you can probably still see that this second set of lyrics hold a much stronger appeal and affect than the original one. The song became an instant success after the change of lyrics. Defer to the power of words!
The spreading of La Cumparsita to the rest of the world was facilitated by Francisco Canaro who took it to paris, in the 1920s where it became immediate hit and a standard fare whenever people wanted to dance tango. It spread to the rest of the world on the wings of the parisian cultural influence on the world at that time. So, I guess we can blame Maroni and Contursi, and Canaro and the French for this musical cataclysm !
Of course, I was very happy (smug expression on my face) to know that Astor Piazzola had some seriously barbed remarks about this song:
(La Cumparsita) is the most frighteningly poor thing in this world (speaking of the D-A-E-F rhythm). Nevertheless, if you add a bass note to enrich it and pour on top of it the melody, you can create a counter point that raises the conventional melody. It is like an ugly person that dresses nicely. It improves his looks. That’s how La Cumparsita is improved. With good clothes.
Now, I don’t have such harsh feelings towards the song but that does put it in perspective. Indeed, it seems to be this precise “dressing up” or its amenability to adornment that has led to the success of la cumparsita. As Francisco Canaro points out (quoting from todotango.com):
“La cumparsita”…has the peculiar virtue that its musical structure wonderfully lends itself to be embellished by orchestrations of higher level, everything fits well with “La cumparsita”: counter melodies for violins, variations for bandoneons and other important instruments, besides other attractive musical effects that arrangers and leaders ably take advantage of for showcasing their own outfit. Each leader of a tango orchestra has his own arrangement, his personal rendition of the celebrated tango. And, proudly, he is convinced that his authorized rendition of “La cumparsita” is the best in existence.
After spending so much time reading about it and listening to 20 renditions of it, I think I have a little more fondness for this Marching song embellished in pink. Good for me! After all, there is no escaping La Cumparsita in this life 
Usually the whole class goes out to eat at one of the Colombian Hot Dog places after the Friday class. If you are considering joining tango because you are new to the town and are feeling a bit lonely and in need of new friends this would be the best place to start. 
