Friendship is a theme central to tango songs. Friends in tango, like in real life play many roles and tango being as emphatic as it is, in tango, friends are always bigger than real life! Because they play such an important role, friends are usually referred to with affection, with words such as amigazo (big friend), hermano (brother), compadre (mate).

 

In some songs, they are the privileged recipient of intimate confessions, a shoulder to lean on in bad times, as shown in Tres esperanzas by E. S. Discepolo:

Tres esperanzas tuve en mi vida
Dos me engañaron y una murió 		Three hopes I had in my life
Two cheated on me and one died

 

Friends are also those who are present and who help during the transition between childhood and adulthood. Medianoche from H. Gagliardi illustrates this important time of life:

Las doce de la noche! Qué harán los muchachos?
Tal vez, como siempre, jugando al billar,
O estarán de baile en algún casamiento… 		Midnight, what might the lads be doing?
Maybe, like always, playing billiard,
Or dancing at someone’s wedding

 

When the friendship fails however, tango usually being quite melodramatic, it is perceived and expressed as a real treason. E. Escaris Mendez says in Media noche:

… Que los amigos, como los jueces,
han nacido pa’ fallar… 		Friends, like judges,
Are born to fail…

 

If you enjoy reading about tango lyrics, why not have a look at our tango translations?

See you soon on the dance floor!

Abrazo,

Nathalie

Source: Translated from Tango, la mezcla milagrosa by Carlos Mina