Volver

traditional Argentine Mate tea in ceramic cup

Argentine Tango lyrics make me think about travel in a conceptual sense. You travel through life gathering memories, experiences, and sometimes pain. This song, Volver, captures a journey many of us have taken. Imagine the music and dancers as you read...

Carlos Gardel, Volver (English translation) 

I imagine the flickering 
of the lights that in the distance 

will be marking my return. 

They're the same that lit, 

with their pale reflections, 

deep hours of pain 

And even though I didn't want to come back, 

you always return to your first love 

The tranquil street where the echo said 

yours is her life, yours is her love, 

under the mocking gaze of the stars 

that, with indifference, today see me return. 

To return 

with withered face, 

the snows of time 

have whitened my temples. 

To feel... that life is a puff of wind, 

that twenty years is nothing, 

that the feverish look, 

wandering in the shadow, 

looks for you and names you. 

To live... 

with the soul clutched 

to a sweet memory 

that I cry once again 

I am afraid of the encounter 

with the past that returns 

to confront my life 

I am afraid of the nights 

that, filled with memories, 

shackle my dreams. 

But the traveler that flees 

sooner or later stops his walking 

And although forgetfulness, which destroys all, 

has killed my old dream, 

I keep concealed a humble hope 

that is my heart's whole fortune. 

To live... with the soul clutched 

to a sweet memory 

that I cry once again