With love being one of the most prevalent tango themes, it’s fair to say it’s been envisaged from every possible angle! Most tango songs either express the emotions of the heartbroken poet or try and explain why he’s been abandoned. Some songs are quite direct, others use metaphors to express the poet’s emotions. Sollozo de bandoneon does both: the poet expresses his own emotions directly (“Tonight I have to tell you that I am love sick from loosing you”) and also lets the bandoneon express some of his personal feelings.

The very particular and sometimes strident sound of the bandoneon explains why it plays such a central role in tango music and universe: “Groaning like our hearts, the bandoneons cry their pain, the same as I sob theirs.”

It is true that bandoneons sometimes sound like they’re crying – at least in melodramatic tango love songs.

Sollozo de Bandoneon has been translated by Tanguito, Argentine Tango Academy in London. If you feel 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.