This memorable tango is one of several composed by the great pianist and bandleader Carlos Di Sarli, who recorded it no fewer than three times in the 1950s (twice with Mario Pomar and once again with Jorge Durán). The song had previously been a hit under the baton of Francisco Canaro with the strong vocal delivery of Ernesto Famá, which brings out the lyric’s endearing mixture of self-mocking humor and booze-and-blues regret. Very little is known today of lyricist Reynaldo Pignataro, who also penned the tango “Che, bacana!” (recorded by the Di Sarli sextet in 1929, perhaps unfortunately as an instrumental number).
Don’t Go Asking Me Why
(Tr. Jake Spatz)
YouTube: Mario Pomar (Orq. Carlos Di Sarli)
My buddies!
If on any of these evenings
You see me coming in the bar,
With a stumble, off my rocker,
Just a drooling, solo talker,
Don’t go asking me why!
All drunken…
With my hairdo all disheveled,
And my crooked tie bedeviled,
And a rancor in my eyes,
Don’t go asking me, buddies,
Why I’ve come in so drunken,
And show some mercy instead.
In the light of those eyes shining holy
Were enraptured my soul and my faith,
On the cup of those lips full of honey
I was passion-drunk through yesterday.
Now I’m living and yearning in darkness
For that light of her love above all,
Now I need to submerge my existence
And that’s why I seek out alcohol.
My buddies!
If on any of these evenings
You see me coming in the bar,
With a stumble, off my rocker,
Just a drooling, solo talker,
Don’t go asking me why!
All drunken…
Seeking refuge in the brews
That the sweet and mellow booze
Does ever lavishly bestow,
Perhaps I might forget the way
She was my star just yesterday
And now is killing me with woe.
No me pregunten por qué (1935)
Lyrics: Reynaldo Pignataro
Music: Carlos Di Sarli
¡Muchachos!…
Si cualquiera de estas noches
me ven llegar al café,
tambaleando medio “colo”
babeando y hablando solo,
¡no me pregunten por qué!
Borracho…
Con la melena revuelta,
la corbata floja y suelta
y con rencor al mirar,
no me pregunten, muchachos,
por qué he venido borracho
y de mi tengan piedad.
En la luz de unos ojos divinos
se embriagaban mi alma y mi fe
y en la copa de miel de sus labios
hasta ayer de pasión me embriagué.
Hoy que vivo de nuevo en tinieblas
añorando la luz de su amor
necesito hundir mi existencia
y es por eso que busco el alcohol.
¡Muchachos!…
Si cualquiera de estas noches
me ven llegar al café
tambaleando medio “colo”
babeando y hablando solo
¡no me pregunten por qué!
Borracho…
Refugiado en el alivio
del brebaje dulce y tibio
que nos prodiga el licor,
tal vez me olvide de aquella
que hasta ayer fuera mi estrella
y hoy me mata de dolor.