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Tango and horse racing Jesús Castañón Rodríguez The presence of the horse in the Argentinean literature has always been a necessary reference and a lifestyle that have also permeated other artistic venues. One of the is music, specially tango, with numerous compositions that highlight the importance of this animal, either in the countryside chores or as an urban transportation. But one curious aspect is the sporting version of the horse in the racetrack. There is a passion that has created a popular identity which can reflect collective feelings of nostalgia, bursting joy and hope at the elusive instants of happiness. This has comprised three points of interests: tangos based on horse racing subjects, the attention paid by lyricists and musicians, and the relationship with other cultural activities. TANGOS BASED ON HORSE RACING THEMES The first section is dedicated to the presence of horse racing in tango lyrics. In a first anthology, we could document 48 tangos focused on two big thematic blocks: the events and the social experience tinted by passion. Sports events Racetrack experiences from different points of view. In the first place, we observe the presence of great horsemen who stand out because of their extraordinary control of the riding crop and reins, their unbelievable courage and their visual skills; or due to their image as a reservoir of hope to escape from poverty thanks to a skill that could perform a miracle. That's how we find Antúnez, Pedro Guillén, Leguisamo or Domingo Torterolo, and the image of the anonymous jockey in the compositions "El pulpo", "El Yacaré", "¡Leguisamo solo!", "Mereces un monumento", "Pulpo viejo" and "Sálvame Legui". Other aspect of this sport is the reaction of the horse racing fan at the racetrack. His passion is demonstrated by the intense emotions noticeable during the races by means of cries, shudders and fascination at the movement of the horses, the turns of the race or the outfit of the horsemen ("Los burros", "Mi pingo lindo" and "Yo te saludo Palermo"). All this occurs with an indescribable joy that can erase all sadness and soothe any bitterness ("Por una cabeza), or with an emotional intensity that links popular devotion to Gardel and the close winning posts ("Este tanto es pa'l morocho") with his profound silence of the home back road after being defeated. The social experience tinted with passion The other main point of interest is the social experience at the races. A passionate experience that fits in every single level of individual life, memories from childhood and daily life at the Río de la Plata. The experience of the race fans bursting passion has a special incidence in personal and family life. Even when a little dose of womanising is required to conquer the lady and show his passion for her ("Como querés que te quiera" and "Te lo digo por tu bien"), the majority of the tango lyrics refer to the character trapped in the contradiction of fulfilling his passion for money and demonstrating his eternal love for his wife ("Lo que nunca te dirán"). It´s a drama with irreversible consequences that can only bring disappointment, both at the races and for the love relationship ("Por una cabeza"), resulting in the failure of the couple´s lives. It is always the dashing of any hope, caused by gambling and the wrong kind of company, through bets, bad habits and quick love affairs which at the end destroy all her dreams, bring the man to absolute poverty and creat a tormented relationship that combines heated arguments, pain, frustration, sorrow, suffering and prayers ("Amigotes", "Crueldad mental", "El jugador", "¡Qué calamidad!" and "Tengo miedo"). There is a resemblance of the past in "De mis barrios", "Mi barrio de San Benito", "¿Sabes Buenos Aires?", with childhood memories about the negative effects of the tricks required to bet and the loss of the wages after the sure gambling, or the theft of the blanket wrapping up the horses ("Mi manta pampa"). The races at the racecourses of San Isidro and Palermo in Argentina, or Maroñas and Las Piedras in Uruguay, are useful to level horse racing and life as a source of hard blows ("Palermo en octubre" and "Tango de la mula"), or to measure a quality of life that shines under a tremendous display of money and entertainment at the social image of the racecourse and the city streets ("Lo que nunca deschavé", "Noches de Colón", and "Uno y uno"). Even more, races are a subject of conversation amongst friends ("El día que yo me vaya"), and provide a definition of a popular and emotional character based in his desire to live, to become something else, and to dance in a clique of philosophers at bars, jokes at the Obelisco, bandoneon and imitations of Gardel ("Buenos Aires es tu fiesta" and "El tango no tiene contra"). But on top of all this, the races are the natural field for the description and painting of different social stereotypes. In the first place, we observe the characters that have abandoned their family and a life of order succumbing to the temptation of easy money at the illegal football and horse racing bets ("Farabute" and "Palermo"), the people who raises horses in the hope of making a life out of their luck with the help of mate and some heavy drink ("Tardecitas estuderas") and the heartthrobs who sports a smile, forged grandiosity and fake love to millionaire´s hunters ("A mí déjame de cuentos", "Amarroto", "Gigoló compadrito" and "Sangre guerrera"). In the second place, the different characters who participate in the illegal bets system. The local jargon of the horse course is packed with "lunfardo" terms (papusa, papa, refijota, la gran muñeca –to refer to big profits-, gil –the cheated-, catedrático –the swindler-, biromista –the bet taking-, pingo y yocaba –the horse-, paco –the bill´s was-, tirar un lance –to try one´s luck-; but also with foreign words as chanc, man, clis, gor luna, crack, etc., to creat an atmosphere of fake illusions, purse´s theft and promises of false expectations. The prat states his point of view in "Carreras son carreras" and "La tierra" through the suffering of the humble people that cannot make ends meet. He places all his hopes in the lotto and the horse races, in a continuous suffering caused by the guilty feeling of gambling again to recover from this loss ("Los burros" and "Mi pingo lindo"). We also have the swindler, who pulls his stunt hiding behind the trees at the racetrack, with the aim to make a living without working, just from the earnings made at the illegal gambling during the weekend. This character appears at "Boliche", "El catedrático", "El lapicero", "La catedrática", "Soy una fiera", "Tírate un lance" and "Tonguero". A special mention goes to the tango "Milonga burrera", due to its funny character. It depicts a fan of horse and greyhound racing, who buys a thoroughbred. Regardless of his careful preparation, the horse turns to be slow. However, the animal is so ugly that scares all the other horses in the race and finally wins the National Prize, despite the fact that he is three days late and the time is calculated with a monthly calendar. LYRICISTS, MUSICIANS AND INTERPRETERS Another landmark in the tango scene is dedicated to the people who gave artistic expression to the passion for horse racing. Here we find some well known interpreters as Enrique Campos, Carlos Gardel (who personally experienced a bursting passion for the horse course as a socialite at the races, a gambler and the owner of thoroughbreds), or Jorge Vidal, as well as the orchestras of Astor Piazzola and Juan D´Arienzo, which filled with magic the compositions of the following lyricists and musicians, among others: José María Aguilar, Juan Amado, Alfredo Attadia, Rodolfo Rafael Avilez, Barbieri, Joaquín Barreiro, Zeliz Blanco, Hermido Braga, Miguel Buccino, Enrique Cadícamo, Francisco Canaro, Juan Cao, Ernesto Cardenal, Antonio Casciani, Roberto L. Cayol, J. Celena, Andrés Chinarro, Pascual Contursi, Enrique Delfino, Lucio Demare, José Eneas Riu, Horacio Ferrer, Celedonio Esteban Flores, Omar Facelli, Ada Falcón, Julio Fava Pollero, Osvaldo Fisari, Roberto Fugazot, Héctor Gagliardi, Carlos Gardel, Raúl Garello, Roberto Gimenes, Alberto Gómez, Graciano Gómez, Leopoldo Herrera, Raúl de los Hoyos, Agustín Irusta, Francisco Isart, Nolo Lopez, Maffia y Smurra, Héctor Marco, Francisco Martino, José Paradiso, Pelay, Armando Pontier, H. di Poole, Roberto Ratti, Julio Ravazzano Sanmartino, Alberto Remersaro, Oscar Roma, Domingo Schiaraffia, Federico Silva, Mario Soto, Luis Spinelli, Bernardino Teres, Juan Traverso, Óscar Valles, Jorge Vidal, Jaime Vila and Juan Villalba. CULTURE A third group of factors makes reference to the cultural creation in literature, graphic humour, movies and exhibitions. The literary production has united tango and horse racing in Musicals thanks to the inclusion of the tangos "¡Qué Calamidad!" and "Noches de Colón" in the playwrights "Señora Revista" (1925) and "En el Maipo· (1926), respectively, and the tango "Palermo" in the one-act farce titled "El bajo está de fiesta" (1929). Amarroto was the inspiration for the recreation by the cartoonist Oski in the graphic comic "Rico Tipo". The tango "Por una cabeza" was the sound track of "Scent of a Woman", the 1992 movie directed by Martin Brest with Al Pacino in the lead role, which was also staged at the Megaexposición Tango", held at the Palais de Glace of Buenos Aires in October/November 2000. EPILOGUE Summarizing, horse racing and tango concentrate the intense desire of a full blast race that will allow for a better life with a luck stroke, beyond the difficulties of its sharp bends. They highlight the dual face of that stroke of luck, luxury lifestyle and social status vs. the bitterness of beaten existences, destroyed by uncontrollable passions, deceit and illegal gambling, in a series of bets that risk and loose all their illusions and hopes. The melodic notes of the bandoneon gather the nostalgia and love for the cadence of language, but while the football based compositions are capable of contain the bursting joy of the fans, the songs inspired by horse racing themes reflect a world of truncated hopes, sadness and sorrow. REFERENCES General bibliography and discography BARELLA, Humberto, El tango después de Gardel, Buenos Aires, Editorial Corregidor, 2000. CASTAÑÓN RODRÍGUEZ, Jesús, "Gambetas que encandilan las pupilas", La Página del Idioma Español, Río de Janeiro, December 21, 2000. - "Tango y fútbol", Idioma y deporte, Valladolid, January 15, 2001. - "Música y deporte en Argentina", Nutrición, Deporte y Fitness, Buenos Aires, April 28, 2001. CLUB DEL TANGO, <http://www.clubdetango.com.ar/>, Buenos Aires. EDUARDO RAFAEL, "El deporte y Gardel", en Gardel Extra III ¡Qué los cumpla feliz, Troesma!, Los Ángeles, Tango Reporter, 1998. Megaexposición Tango, Buenos Aires, Palais de Glace, October and November, 2000. ROMANO, Eduardo, Las letras del tango, Antología cronológica 1900-1980, Córdoba, Editorial Fundación Ross, 2000. SESSA, Aldo, Tango, Buenos Aires, Sessa Editores, 1999.TANGO SHOW, <http://www.tangoshow.com>, Buenos Aires. VARELA, Sergio, Tangos que cantó Gardel, Buenos Aires, Distal, 1998. Discography of tangos BARBIERI,
Mi manta pampa (zamba). RAVAZZANO
SANMARTINO, Julio, De mis barrios. All the lyrics can be found at "Letras de tango", the website for tango lyrics: http://argentina.informatik.uni-muenchen.de/tangos/index.html Traducción: Cristina Márquez Arroyo
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