Song commentary
&
lyric translation
The story of Muñequita
Lomuto, composed his first tango when he was 13 – “El 606”, alluding to a medicine called Salvarsán, was prescribed for the treatment of venereal diseases. It was warmly welcome, which encouraged him to compose other ones, which quickly were committed to records: El inquieto and La rezongona. But the boom was “Muñequita”, with lyrics by Adolfo Herschel, which was premiered at theater by the actress María Luisa Notar in 1918. It was also the first work of his that Gardel recorded.
As it is frequently the case in tango, several versions of the lyrics exist.
While all talk about lost love and the pain of being abandoned, some tell the story of a woman leaving her lover behind, whilst the version below talks about a man abandoning his lover after giving her love, money and attention. This is tango giving a voice to women and was probably the version sung by María Luisa Notar.
Muñequita has been translated by Tanguito, Argentine Tango Academy in London. If you have any comment or have other interpretations of the lyrics, please feel free to share your opinion, we’d love to hear what you think.
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The song
Muñequita lyrics
in Spanish & English
MuñequitaDonde estará… |
Little dollI wonder where is… |
| Me acuerdo, que por Florida paseaba en su voiturette, y siempre andaba vestido por Paquin o por Georgette. |
I remember, on Florida avenue, he used to drive by in his small car, always dressed in Paquin or Georgette. |
| Hasta me tenía carruaje, lancha en el Tigre y un Ford, garçonnière en el Pasaje con todo lujo y confort. |
Even I had a carriage, a small boat on the river Tigre and a Ford, a love nest in the alleyway, with all luxury and comfort. |
| Me tenían muy mimada por lo elegante y bonita; por eso la muchachada me llamaba “muñequita”. |
I was kept very spoiled, with all things elegant and beautiful; and the youth called me ‘little doll’. |
| Daba gusto ver mi mesa, con flores, marron glace; todo era alegría y riqueza, y correr champagne frappe. |
It was something to see my table: flowers, marron glaces sweets; everything was happiness and wealth, and champagne frappe was flowing. |
| Todo acabo… Para mí cuando él se fue. Ya no voy a tomar té en lo de Harrod’s como antes; no uso alhajas ni brillantes que en otro tiempo lleve. Todo acabo… Para mí, cuando él se fue. |
Everything ended… for me, when he left. I don’t go anymore to have tea in Harrod’s like before; I don’t use the jewels and diamonds that in other times I wore. Everything ended… for me, when he left. |
| Diganle de parte mía si lo llegaran a ver que no haga esa felonia con una pobre mujer. Que hasta el cachorro ovejero no quiere probar bocado y que ya se ha muerto el jilguero en su jaula abandonado. |
Tell him from my part if you manage to see him… That he can’t commit such a felony to a poor woman. That even the sheepdog puppy won’t have a bite and that the goldfinch has died abandoned in its cage. |
| Si voy al piano a tocar para disipar mi splin vi mi llanto a acompañar los “Millones de Arlequin”. |
If I go to the piano to play and disperse my Spleen, my sobbing accompanies the ‘Thousand harlequins’*. |
| Que ya no quiero carruaje ni lujo, lancha ni Ford, ni pasear, ni cambiar trajes, que solo quiero su amor. |
That I don’t want carriages any more, or luxury, or a boat, or a Ford, or to go for walk, or to change clothes. That I only want his love. |
* A thousand harlequins (I Milioni di Arlecchino) is a ballet written by the composer Riccardo Drigo (1846-1930)
