La Tanguera has already posted a most insightful post about tango and lyrics. I do agree with her, eventhough my mind seems to pay 90% of the attention to the music itself, lyrics do matter and they do influence how you dance a tango, that is, if you understand them.
This weekend, I was just preparing to go to La negracha when I friend of mine told me that she preferred Neotango to tango because she couldn't understand the lyrics of tango and as a person that gives a lot of importance to lyrics, she gets cheesed off. I don't agree with her because I think you can pretty much guess what the lyrics say by the sound of music (ie, if it is a melancholic track then the lyrics are likely to be hitting the same tone). But her remarks made me think of something very curious.
I have talked about Daniel Melingo's concert at the Warwick Arts Centre but I haven't told you a little story. One of my students came out saying "it was disgraceful that he was so drunk on stage, I mean, he started to take his shoes off and threw them around!". H didn't pay very much attention to the shoes part, and tried to tell him that it was probably him just being theatrical rather than drunk. But when I thought a little bit over the situation he threw his shoes off when he was singing "Muleta de Burracho", a music in which the lyrics go on about how he has a stone in his shoes and are hurting him making him unable to walk and look like a crippled. Obviously I can understand this while dancing and that will give me many more cues on how to interpret it in my dance but I wonder, how does it feel to people that can't understand it? Are any non-Spanish speaking tangologuers that feel they are not getting the most of it because they can't understand lyrics?
Monday, December 15, 2008
The importance of lyrics
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7 comments:
I don't think the music is always a clue about the content of the lyrics. There have been other posts specifically about this, how happy music has suicidal lyrics, and how sad and soulful music can have very upbeat lyrics.
Although I do speak Spanish, I do not speak Lunfardo. And I do not actively listen to the lyrics, even though I become aware of them occasionally. Whether I understand them or not, I am more affected by the music. Even when I learn what a song is about, it does nothing to change how I dance to it.
Neither my boyfriend nor I speak Spanish, having both taken French in high school. For a while, he was doing a lot of tango DJing in our town (he's very good, if I do say so myself). At one milonga, we had a guest teacher (Andres Amarilla, if I remember right). One particular song came on, and Andres came up to him and said, basically, "Do you know what this song means? This is the most misogynistic song ever!"
So, I would say yes, non-Spanish speakers are missing something, but I don't think it's vital.
All of my favourite leaders speak Spanish. Maybe that's why they are my favourites, because they can understand the lyrics thus dance with more depth and emotion.
I understand both parties. On one hand, my brain is very music oriented and I get most of the "tango" from the music. But I am aware that in those musics where I pay attention to the lyrics I have a little bit more to play with. It certainly doesn't make you a lesser dancer if you don't speak Spanish but in my view, it's a plus!
once you have mastered dancing to the music, how do you then dance to the lyrics? any concrete examples would be useful. i've thought about this and honestly cannot see how once can dance to the meaning of the lyrics as opposed to their sound.
Hi anonymous:
I never said that I dance to the lyrics. What I said is that sometimes, by understanding the lyrics you can have a little bit more than just the music. A good example is Muleta de Borracho by Melingo but so many others... One track whose lyrics potenciate my dancing is Pedacito de cielo, especially Caló's version.
Cuartito Azul is another one where the lyrics catalyze my dancing.
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