Even in the heart of the Golden Age, in this case in 1941, we can still find examples of songs that only have refrain singing instead of the more “full” singing that had become the standard in tango orchestras. Likewise, for the Donato orchestra of those years, the limited presence of the singers in today’s song, “Amando en silencio”, is quite odd, but at the same time it also proves that you can also have fantastic music because of that limited role. Simply try to listen to how the singing is integrated in the rest of the orchestra as some kind of additional instrument, with the singing being a kind of solo that does not distract from the harmony of the rest of the music. If you want to learn more about this, be sure to follow my new video series ”Tango Music Analysis” in which today’s song will also appear.

I have translated the rest of the lyrics as well, so don’t miss out on the full poetry of this romantic and sensitive tango. The unsung parts are shown in brackets.

Amando en silencio (Loving in silence)
Lyrics: Francisco García Jiménez
Music: José Pécora

(Todo mi amor
está en secretos pensamientos,
en escondidos sentimientos,
nostálgico y soñador…)

(All my love
is in secret thoughts,
in hidden feelings,
wistful and dreamy…)

(Novia ideal,
hay un dolor
que me encadena,
Y frente a tu pudor,
mi fiebre pasional
no es más
que una/muda adoración.)

(My perfect love,
there’s a sorrow
that chains me,
and before your virtue,
my impassioned fever
is nothing more than
silent adoration.)

Amando en silencio…
callando mi ruego,
ahogando este fuego
cobarde, quizás.
Conservo el encanto
de un sueño hechicero,
por eso no quiero
saber la verdad.

Loving in silence…
stilling my desire,
smothering this fire
cowardly, perhaps.
Maybe I’ll keep the spell
of this bewitching dream
as I do not want
to know the truth.

(Amando en silencio…
pagando mi error,
sintiendo el horror
de quebrar este sueño,
ya es vano el empeño
de ocultar esta mentira.)

(Loving in silence,
paying for my mistake,
feeling the horror
of shattering this dream,
as it is hopeless to try
to conceal this lie.)