Carlos Gardel It’s the name we all mention when tango comes up in conversation. In fact, born December 11, 1890 and that is why on this date the National Tango Day.
He “Criollo Thrush”has one of the most popular songs in national history and a fundamental piece to understand the genre. for a head was composed and published by Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera in 1935.
Its melody, which always plays with ascending and descending phrases, reaches climax in its choruswhich never fails to captivate those ears that listen to it. The lyrics, for their part, seem to indicate that the singer was referring to a woman. “For a head, a mess of a day from that flirtatious and smiling woman // who when smilingly swears the love that is lying, burns all my love in a bonfire” prays a part of the tango.
However, when Gardel mentioned the title of the song he was not talking about unrequited love, but from a personal experience of yours.
How the song “For a head” was born
One of the great passions of Argentines in the decade of 1930 -in addition to music- were the horse racing. Both Gardel and Le Pera were gamblers and frequented these events at the Hippodrome.
On one occasion, the singer lost his moneybecause his favorite horse, whom he played against, had lost “by a head” in the last leg. The frustration that Gardel felt at that moment was enough to transform it into a metaphor about love, which can sometimes be like a race that is lost due to details.
The idea for the melody came to him late at night. In fact, that day the phone rang at the musician’s house Terig Tucciwho received the best news: “Hey, man, I just found a great melody for the tango Por una Cabeza”. Perhaps due to fatigue, Tucci was not impressed by Gardel’s burst of inspiration, who replied with humor: “Look, Beethoven, you keep your eighth notes and half notes; but don’t get involved with me in matungo matters.”
The song gained notoriety at the time, but over time it became the most recognized piece of his work. It was performed and covered in films and plays, although the most remembered was in the film Women’s Perfume (1992)in which Al Pacino dance the tango to the rhythm of for a head.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
