Music is a language of its own, but knowing the stories behind the melodies transforms a beautiful performance into an unforgettable memory. If you recently joined us at Secreto Tango Society, you know that our approach to the traditional tango repertoire is entirely different from what you will find in commercial theaters.
We do not rely on pre-packaged, generic backing tracks. Instead, we craft our very own, original musical arrangements. Stripping away the artificial layers allows us to honor the raw, authentic roots of the genre. We let the pure, unfiltered voices of the bandoneon, the piano, and our singers speak directly to you, capturing the unadorned soul of the music.
Whether you want to relive your evening with us or simply understand the stories behind tango music, here is a look inside our authentic tango repertoire and the meanings behind the songs we shared with you.
1. Che Bandoneón – Homero Manzi, Aníbal Troilo.
A heartbreaking ode to the bandoneon itself. The singer speaks to the instrument as if it were a loyal friend, acknowledging that this iconic bellows-driven instrument understands human sorrow better than anyone else.
Hey bandoneon!
The spirit of your sound, hey bandoneon,
takes pity on the pain of others,
and as it squeezes your sleepy bellows
it gets closer to the heart that suffers the most.
Estercita and Mimí like Ninón,
leaving their fates of percale
they dressed in the end with rayon shrouds,
to the funeral echo of your song.
Bandoneon,
tonight is a night of revelry
and I can confess the truth to you,
glass by glass, sorrow by sorrow, tango by tango,
wrapped in the madness
of alcohol and bitterness.
Bandoneon,
why mention her so much,
don't you see that the heart is in oblivion
and she returns night after night like a song
in the drops of your tears,
hey bandoneon!
Your song is the love that was not given
and the sky we once dreamed of,
and the fraternal friend who sank
struggling in the storm of a love.
And those tremendous urges to cry
that sometimes flood us for no reason,
and the drink that forces us to remember
if the soul is offside, hey bandoneon.
2. Todo es Amor (Everything is Love) – Alejandro Romay and Leo Lipesker
While traditional tango is famous for tragedy and heartbreak, “Todo es amor” is a rare, beautifully optimistic celebration of pure romance. The lyrics describe love as a divine, overwhelming force, where even the breeze and the birds seem to reflect the couple’s profound connection. Famously popularized by the legendary Fulvio Salamanca orchestra, it is a joyful, sweeping reminder that love is the absolute driving force of life.
Where is the reason for my yearning and my faith?
Where is the cause of my intense unease?
Where, if not in your dreams that encourage me so much,
if not in your lips that, by offering their charm,
give me the strength to fight for you.
Who gave my voice the accent of your voice?
Who filled long hours of anxiety with light?
Someone who, from heaven, pointed the way
so we could unite our destinies
and thus achieve our happiness.
Everything is love,
the breeze and you
playing in the murmur,
and the nightingale
singing on a flower
searching for love, love.
Everything is love,
the rose and I
climbing up to your balcony,
then the two of us
trembling with emotion
searching for love, love.
3. Romance de Barrio (Neighborhood Romance) – Anibal Troilo
A sweeping waltz that chronicles the daily life of the city. It tells the story of a fleeting, perhaps forbidden love hidden within the humble, cobblestone streets of a Buenos Aires neighborhood.
First, the distant rendezvous in April,
Your dark balcony, your old garden.
Later, the letters written with a feverish pulse,
Lying no, swearing yes.
Neighborhood romance, your love and my love,
First an affection, then a pain.
For faults we never had,
For faults we both had to suffer.
Today you must be living,
Despising me, perhaps, without thinking
That I lament not being able to have you,
The pain of not knowing how to forget.
Today you must be,
Like never before, far from me,
Far from so much weeping.
It was for no reason
That spite blinded you, just like me.
Without thinking that in the resentment of the farewell
You cruelly punished your own heart.
It was for no reason
That suddenly we couldn't think straight.
That it is easier to renounce and leave
Than to live without forgetting.
Your voice and my voice return defeated,
Bringing back, with tones of horror,
The faults we never had,
The faults we both had to pay for.
4. La Cachila – Osvaldo Pugliese
A classic, rhythmic instrumental piece. This complex composition tests the absolute virtuosity of the musicians and captures the sophisticated, energetic side of traditional tango.
5. La Trampera (The Snare) – Anibal Troilo and Roberto Grela
A fast-paced, mischievous, and incredibly energetic milonga composed by the great Aníbal Troilo. It perfectly captures the playful, upbeat, and slightly cunning side of the genre.
6. Volver (To Return) – Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera.
It is a profound, existential reflection on the passage of time, the heavy emotional toll of looking back, and the bittersweet nature of nostalgia.
Where is he returning to? In this song, Gardel is returning to the humble neighborhood streets of his youth after a long, painful absence. He walks under the flickering light of the streetlamps and what he calls the “mocking gaze of the stars.” He is terrified to return, afraid to confront his past and the memories of his first love that still haunt those old cobblestones.
The true genius of “Volver” lies in its paradox regarding time. The singer acknowledges that time has aged him and that the harsh realities of life have destroyed his youthful illusions. Yet, in the very same breath, he famously declares that “twenty years is nothing”.
I can guess the flickering of the lights that in the distance
Are marking my return
They are the same ones that illuminated, with their pale reflections
Deep hours of pain
And although I did not want the return
One always returns to their first love
The old street that gave shelter
Yours is its life, yours is its love
Under the mocking gaze of the stars
That, with indifference
See me return today
To return
With a withered brow
The snows of time have silvered my temples
To feel
That life is but a breath
That twenty years is nothing
That the feverish gaze
Wandering in the shadows, searches for you and calls your name
To live
With the soul clinging
To a sweet memory that I weep for once again
I fear the encounter with the past that returns
To confront my life
I fear the nights that, populated with memories
Might chain my dreams
But the traveler who flees
Sooner or later halts his journey
And although oblivion, which destroys everything
May have killed my old illusion
I keep a humble hope hidden
Which is the entire fortune of my heart
To return
With a withered brow
The snows of time have silvered my temples
To feel
That life is but a breath
That twenty years is nothing
That the feverish gaze
Wandering in the shadows, searches for you and calls your name
To live
With the soul clinging
To a sweet memory that I weep for once again
7. Cualquiera de Estas Noches (Any of These Nights) – Eladia Blázquez and Virgilio Expósito
A song fueled by the lingering hope, or perhaps the lingering threat, that a lost love might just walk back through the door on any given night.
How did it happen? But how did it happen?
How am I standing without trembling?
What happened? We never saw each other again
My watch has stopped on my wrist
Where are you? Where is your passion?
Your blooming affection, where is it?
Come back to me, for there is no greater good
Than living a great love
Any of these nights I will come in through your balcony
To plunder your soul and steal your heart
Without doors or windows, your tenderness and my anxiety
Your desires and my desires, how fiercely they will love each other
Any of these nights with unused kisses
I will tell your mouth how much love I want to give it
Any of these nights I will come in through your balcony
To plunder your soul and die of passion
I know very well, I know you well
That there is no one else, only me
But even so, you are so special
You would die to show that I don't even exist anymore
But come, because to my crazy thirst
One doesn't say "it's over" without suffering
Come back to me, for there is no greater good
Than living a great love
Any of these nights I will come in through your balcony
To plunder your soul and steal your heart
Without doors or windows, your tenderness and my anxiety
Your desires and my desires, how fiercely they will love each other
Any of these nights with unused kisses
I will tell your mouth how much love I want to give it
Any of these nights I will come in through your balcony
To plunder your soul and die of passion
8. Alfonsina y el Mar (Alfonsina and the Sea) – Ariel Ramírez and Félix Luna
While technically a Zamba (another traditional Argentine rhythm), this is perhaps the most profoundly sad and breathtakingly beautiful piece we perform. It recounts the tragic, real-life story of the beloved poet Alfonsina Storni slowly walking into the ocean. Because the history and the poetry behind her final moments are so deeply moving, we have written an entire article dedicated to her. You can read it right here.
Along the soft sand
Lapped by the sea
Her small footprint
Will never return
A lonely path
Of sorrow and silence reached
Into the deep
Water
And a lonely path of mute sorrows reached
Out to the foam
God knows what anguish accompanied you
What old pains your voice kept silent
To lay down, lulled by the song of the
Seashells
The song the seashell sings in the dark depths
Of the sea
You leave, Alfonsina, with your loneliness
What new poems did you go searching for?
An ancient voice of wind and salt
Shatters your soul and is carrying it away
And you go out there as if in a dream
Asleep, Alfonsina, dressed in the sea
Five little mermaids will carry you
Along paths of seaweed and coral
And phosphorescent seahorses will form
A circle by your side
And the inhabitants of the water will soon play
By your side
Turn down the lamp a little more for me
Let me sleep, nursemaid, in peace
And if he calls, do not tell him I am here
Tell him that Alfonsina is not coming back
And if he calls, never tell him I am here
Say that I have gone
You leave, Alfonsina, with your loneliness
What new poems did you go searching for?
An ancient voice of wind and salt
Shatters your soul and is carrying it away
And you go out there as if in a dream
Asleep, Alfonsina, dressed in the sea
9. Milonga del Ángel (The Angel’s Milonga)
A masterpiece by the legendary Astor Piazzolla. It is a delicate, deeply emotional instrumental piece that feels exactly like a guardian angel’s warm, comforting embrace.
10. Siempre se Vuelve a Buenos Aires (One Always Returns to Buenos Aires) – Eladia Blázquez
This is consistently one of the favorite moments of our show. Brought to life by the incredible, evocative voice of Alicia Vignola, this masterpiece by the great Eladia Blázquez is a profound, poetic reflection on the magnetic pull of the city. It captures how our hearts always pull us back to our roots, our first loves, and the streets that fundamentally shaped who we are. Her interpretation captures that deep Argentine nostalgia perfectly, reminding us that no matter how far we wander, we always find our way back home.
This city is bewitched, without knowing it...
by the captivating spell of returning.
I don't know if for better, I don't know if for worse,
but returning holds the magic of a ritual.
I belong here, I could not be from anywhere else...
I recognize myself in the habit of returning!
To find myself again, to appreciate later,
the things I lost... The life that slipped away!
I arrived and I am already on the verge of leaving...
Feeling like I am going, yet I do not want to leave.
I turned the corner of my own self, to understand,
that no one escapes the fatalism of their own being!
And as I step on these cobblestones,
roses bloom within me just for returning...!
I don't know if this city even exists, if it is truly like this...
Or if some poet simply invented it for me!
It is like a woman, prophetic and fatal,
demanding sacrifice until the very end!
But it also has another voice, it has another skin;
and the welcoming gesture of a café table...
The blossoming emotion, the brotherly hand,
and the face of love at every threshold.
I know it is no coincidence that I was born here
and that I am a bit like this... sad and sentimental.
I know it is no coincidence that a bandoneon for the two of us,
sings our funeral dirge to say... Goodbye!
To say goodbye to you... you see, it just cannot be.
When forever and always, you are a reason to return!
One always returns to Buenos Aires, to search for
that melancholic way of loving...
This is only known by the one who had to live
sick with nostalgia... Almost to the point of dying!...
11. Ensueños (Daydreams) – Quinteto Real
A highly melodic, romantic, and sweeping instrumental journey. Our original arrangement invites you to close your eyes, drift away, and let the music paint the scenery.
12. Los Coso de al Lao (The Guys Next Door) – Aníbal Troilo
A humorous, slightly cynical, and deeply relatable look at nosy neighbors, local gossip, and the exhausting effort of keeping up appearances in a traditional Buenos Aires neighborhood.
The violins sobbed,
the bandoneons shuddered,
and in the night, the chords
of a tango faded away.
A cop walking his beat
so he won't fall asleep,
and a suitor who is hidden
sweet-talking in a doorway.
Suddenly you hear
the sound of an orchestra,
because they're throwing a party,
the guys next door.
The girl has returned
who left one day
when she wasn't even
fifteen years old!
Today she has a little boy...
and they've baptized him!
That's why they are dancing,
the guys next door.
Now the lights have gone out,
the neighborhood stretches awake,
the night, with its sadness,
has slipped away.
The workers heading to the daily grind
like every morning,
while babbling nonsense,
a drunk guy walks by.
13. Patético (Pathetic) – Jorge Caldara
An intense, driving piece that showcases the dramatic, percussive power of a tango orchestra working together to build incredible tension.
14. Duelo Criollo (Creole Duel) – Lito Bayardo and Juan Rezzano
A dramatic, classic narrative about a knife fight fought over love and honor under the moonlight. It is a raw, historical snapshot of the fierce pride found in the city’s early days.
While the serene moon
Bathes in its silver light
Like a mournful sob
His song can be heard
The sweet and heartfelt song
That the whole neighborhood used to listen to
When silence reigned
In the old mansion
They say she was the girl from the outskirts
The flower of that neighborhood
Whom a wandering singer loved
Only for her did he sing of love
At the foot of her window
But another love for that woman
Was born in the heart of the most notorious tough guy
That a streetlamp, in a creole duel, saw
Ah, under its weak light, watched them both die
That is why the nights moan
In such silent calm
That song which is the final seal
Of that love that passed by
Out of sorrow, the beautiful girl
Opened her wings wide
And with her virtue and her grace
Flew away to heaven
They say she was the girl from the outskirts
The flower of that neighborhood
Whom a wandering singer loved
Only for her did he sing of love
At the foot of her window
But another love for that woman
Was born in the heart of the most notorious tough guy
That a streetlamp, in a creole duel, saw
Ah, under its weak light, watched them both die
15. Fruta Amarga (Bitter Fruit) – Homero Manzi
A lyrical, poetic dive into the lingering, bitter taste left behind by a passionate love story that simply did not work out. With lyrics by the legendary Homero Manzi, this piece beautifully brings our evening full circle. We intentionally open our show with Manzi’s words in Che Bandoneón and close the night with his profound poetry here in Fruta Amarga, creating a perfect, emotional bracket for your Secreto experience.
Heart!
In that long night
the bitter fruit ripened
of this enormous loneliness.
Heart!
In the clouds of which sky
will the sadness of your flight
wander inconsolably?
I know it well...
That hallucinatory cold
of an instant, blinded me!
It was in a wind of madness,
without tenderness, without forgiveness.
It was in the hoarse cry
of a love driven mad
by pain.
You were the sunlight
and the happy song
and the gray drizzle
at my window.
You were a faithful haven
and a dreaming spirit
and a blooming jasmine tree
and you were tomorrow.
Soft murmur... Hillside wind...
Warm cooing of the dove.
You will never again be
the scent of a rosebush,
the freshness of a spring
in my destiny.
You will only be the voice
that makes me remember
that in an atrocious instant
I made you cry.
You are no longer here!
And memory is a mirror
that reflects from afar
your sadness and my wickedness.
You are no longer here!
And your absence that lingers
tastes like bitter fruit,
like punishment and loneliness.
Heart!
A cloud placed a veil
over the sky of us both.
And only a cloud
suddenly ruined me!
A senseless cloud,
without mercy, without oblivion,
without forgiveness!
Let This Tango Repertoire Linger in Your Heart
Music is meant to be felt, but understanding the poetry behind it changes everything. Thank you for sharing these stories with us behind closed doors. We hope this music stays with you long after your experience has ended.
To keep the magic alive and the memories close, we invite you to keep exploring the most famous tango songs, discover authentic tango covers, or simply let this tango repertoire play on in your heart.
