Leaning close to his friend with a swell of emotion and a wag of the thumb, he asks: “You know the words to this song?” And as the small band plays in the dingy saloon, Carlos Gardel cracks a sad smile, settles in, and sings himself into eternity.
Penned for the 1931 film Las luces de Buenos Aires (dir. Adelqui Migliar), “Tomo y obligo” encapsulates the tango in a nutshell. As a vehicle for the singer to express his predicament, while at the same time revealing his true nature despite himself, it is the ultimate piece of theater. And yet it couldn’t be simpler. “Men ain’t s’posed to cry,” he thunders—and cries.
Manuel Romero had a fine sense of staging already, and drew on earlier tangos for leverage (his form here is similar to “Adiós, muchachos” and “No le digas que la quiero”). For his part, Gardel wrote the music for this number (drawing on his earlier treatment of “Mano a mano”), starting a compositional trend he would continue in his subsequent films. Although he expressed some reservations about his performance in this one, saying he was underprepared, history has decided otherwise, recognizing this as one of his most memorable screen moments. It is also recounted that this audience favorite was the final tango Gardel performed, before his fatal plane crash in 1935.
Let’s Drink It Over
(Tr. Jake Spatz)
YouTube: Carlos Gardel (film | studio)
Let’s drink it over, get you a double,
I’ve got a memory I must put to rest…
A stranger out here, no friend but trouble,
I want to bury my woes in your breast.
Let’s clink together, and you believe me,
If there’s a mist coming over my eye,
It ain’t me crying cuz she deceived me,
I know a real man is not s’posed to cry.
If the pampas could describe it, they would tell you of the fashion
Of the fever and the passion, the attentions I would pay…
And how often in a tremble I went kneeling down and babbling
Underneath the leafless sapling where I kissed her yesterday…
But to see her with another, in a look of cheap surrender,
It just stabs me through the center with a blinding jealous rage—
And I swear, it still escapes me how I found the self-possession
And discovered the discretion not to kill her straight away.
Let’s drink it over, get you a double;
As far as dames go, let’s not say a word…
My friend, believe me, they’re only trouble,
As my experience today can affirm.
Take my advice now, don’t be a lover;
And if you fall for some gal, by and by,
No crying, dammit! Be strong and suffer!
It isn’t manly… men ain’t s’posed to cry.
Tomo y obligo (1931)
Music: Carlos Gardel
Lyrics: Manuel Romero
Tomo y obligo, mándese un trago
que hoy necesito el recuerdo matar,
sin un amigo, lejos del pago
quiero en su pecho mi pena volcar.
Beba conmigo y si se empaña
de vez en cuando mi voz al cantar,
no es que la llore porque me engaña,
yo sé que un hombre no debe llorar.
Si los pastos conversaran, esta pampa le diría
de qué modo la quería, con qué fiebre la adoré.
Cuántas veces de rodillas, tembloroso, yo me he hincado
bajo el árbol deshojado donde un día la besé.
Y hoy al verla envilecida y a otros brazos entregada,
fue para mí una puñalada y de celos me cegué,
y le juro, todavía no consigo convencerme
como pude contenerme y ahí nomás no la maté.
Tomo y obligo, mándese un trago;
de las mujeres mejor no hay que hablar,
todas, amigo, dan muy mal pago
y hoy mi experiencia lo puede afirmar.
Siga un consejo, no se enamore
y si una vuelta le toca hocicar,
fuerza, canejo, sufra y no llore
que un hombre macho no debe llorar.